Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept
by DancingDragonBlaze
Summary: SEQUEL TO TAKEN: HELL TO FIRE Sasuke Uchiha has been dead for four years, and life to Team Seven hasn't been the same since. But now the Chunin Exams are underway, and Naruto meets a boy with Sasuke's name who carries a horrific power on his shoulders that everyone so desperately wants to have...
1. Paths Cross Once More

**Konnichi wa!**

**YATTA! SHANNARO! HUZZAH! THE LONG AWAITED SEQUEL IS HERE! **

**I was going to make it a three-part series, but I decided against it. **

**I was CRAVING to start the Chunin exams :D**

**So, in this story, there's going to be a flashback every other chapter, to explain what happens after Sasuke accepts the headband!**

**Those who don't know what I'm talking about, read the six chapter prologue – Taken: Hell to Fire – to know what's going on!**

**Recap – I'm not going to do one. If you've forgotten what happened, just reread the prologue. About three of those chapters are ridiculously short.**

**Crap – I'm KILLING myself with all these multi-chapter fics!**

**CRAP CRAP CRAP! XD**

**Oh well! Shows how much I love you :D**

**I hope you like it!**

**Here's the first chapter! **

**Promises Not Made Are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter One – Paths Cross Once More**

_He was floating._

_He couldn't see anything – just mist. Dense mist that showed nothing to him. _

"_Where… am I?" He asked the mist. _

"_Hello again." _

_His eyes snapped open, but it still didn't help his vision._

"_Who… is that?" He asked, his voice echoing. "Your voice… is so familiar. Who are you? WHERE are you?"_

"_That's not really important, now is it?"_

_Hands cupped his face, the owner of the hands hidden in shadow. He could only see pale, delicate fingers – could only feel the gently callused skin as the soft tips caressed his cheeks. _

"_It's been such a long time. But don't worry. We'll see each other again. Our paths will cross once more – very soon."_

"_But when? When will I see you again? Who are you?" His voice was slowly getting more frantic._

"_Don't worry. You'll see me again. And when you do, you'll know. But for now…"_

"_Now what?" He asked loudly. "Now WHAT?"_

_There was no answer._

_It felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest._

"Get up, Naruto."

His eyes opened wearily to see his pink-headed comrade looking down at him.

"Sakura?" He breathed. "How'd you… get into my apartment?"

"Kakashi-sensei let me in. Anyway, Naruto – get up. Today is the day the Chunnin exams start, remember?"

Naruto nodded and get up, yawning.

"Okay Sakura – okay. I'm going, I'm going."

_Weird. _He thought. _That same dream again. It's been happening for a couple of weeks now. I wonder what it means. _

_That's strange. _Sakura thought. _Usually he's a pain as soon as he gets up, but right now he's really quiet. I wonder what's wrong. _

A few minutes later found Naruto and Sakura heading onto the bridge, where the latest edition of the group was sitting on the wooden rail, waiting for both them and Kakashi to appear.

The short black hair and bangs looked like someone else for a split moment, and Naruto's eyes widened.

_It's him! _

"Sas–!"

"SAI!" Sakura called, waving to him and cutting Naruto off. "We're here!"

The world had fallen out from underneath Naruto's feet. He shook his head vigorously.

_No – can't think about that! Happy face Naruto – happy face! _

"Hey Sakura, Naruto," Sai greeted, sliding off the rail. Naruto, who had expected – once more – a smirk and a scathing comment – blinked and shook himself violently.

_It's not him – DAMMIT it's not him!_

"Okay there, Naruto?" Sai asked, looking at him with hands in his pockets, so similar to the stature of another's.

_Don't think about him! You think about him you'll never be able to concentrate on the exams today –_

"Yeah – I'm okay!" The blonde replied cheerfully. "Just thinking."

Sai smiled and nodded.

"Okay! C'mon guys – let's go to the academy! Three o'clock is just around the corner!"

The other two nodded and followed, Sai in the middle.

Sai slowed so Sakura and Naruto were on either side of him, and both Naruto and Sakura felt a hand slid into theirs.

Naruto's first instinct was to break every bone in that hand, but he exchanged glances with Sakura's happy eyes, and he rethought the urge.

Sighing, he let Sai pull both him and Sakura along, feigning a smile. He looked back to the bridge, and he almost thought he saw another raven head, smirking at him from the middle of the bridge.

The blonde's heart leaped in his throat, but another blink, and the image was gone.

Distressed and disappointed, Naruto turned to look at the ground, face distraught.

_Four years and I STILL can't get him out of my head. _

Four years and he couldn't accept the fact that his former teammate was dead.

He swallowed.

_It just… can't be real. _

They arrived at the academy, and walked inside, making their way to the third level.

An entire group of Genin was already there, being fought off by two Chunin in front of the door.

"It's a genjutsu," Naruto heard Sakura breathe. Sai nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go up a floor, okay?"

"Hold it!"

The three turned to see another Genin – with a bowl-cut hair do, looking at them.

"Sakura Haruno, yes?" he asked. Blinking, Sakura nodded. The other brightened. "My name is Rock Lee," he stated. Then he smiled and winked, clenching his fist. "Please be my girlfriend! I promise to protect you with my life!"

"Uh… sorry." Sai smiled at Lee, slipping an arm around Sakura's waist. "But she's already taken."

Lee went off to shrivel up and die in a corner as Sakura blushed.

Naruto saw this with a disgusted look on his face. Unlike himself, Sakura had covered up the hurt of losing the original by forcing herself into a relationship with the fake.

_We can't even speak your name without everyone becoming sad. _Naruto closed his eyes, fighting against breaking down again. _Bastard. _

Laughter echoed from the stairwell that led to the first floor (the genjutsu had been placed on the second), and Naruto turned his head to see three people coming up from the stairwell.

The first was obviously a boy – he had no bust line that Naruto could see – but his hair was long and flowing, stretching down to the small of his back and making him seem like a female at first glance. He wore all black, the tank top stretched tightly over toned flesh, revealing a powerful stomach as his baggy black cargo pants hung at his hips, swinging slightly with his walk and matching perfectly with his black boots. He was laughing over his shoulder down at the stairwell, his eyes turned up in upside-down 'u's as he grinned. His headband glinted at his hips.

The next one who appeared was an obvious girl – her bust line was wrapped tightly in bandages to keep them in place – her hair – as dark as the male's and equally long – was pulled up in a high ponytail, swaying with her brisk, playful walk as she grasped the first boy's hand. Her taut stomach was showing, and black Capri's showed off slender calves and delicate ankles that were made even more elegant in the black high-heeled shoes she wore. Her headband – especially made for her – was wrapped tightly around her bust line.

The last one was a very feminine male, his eyes soft and bright and brown with his brunette hair – not nearly as long as the other two's, only to his shoulder blades – pulled up into a bun, with two long bangs outlining his face. He wasn't dressed in all black, but in dark, soft blue, his long-sleeved sweater hugging his upper torso and stretching down to his hips. Loose blue shorts revealed slender legs, and wooden sandals clunked against the wood softly as his headband shone on his forehead.

The three newcomers also had three animals with them. The first male had a tiger trailing after him, the girl had a ferocious wolf at her side, and the second male had a bird perched on his shoulder.

Looking up as they reached the top of the stairs, the first male's dark black eyes connected with Naruto's blue, and the blonde could have sworn he saw a spark of recognition in the pitch black orbs.

It was gone in a mere moment, however, as the first boy looked on at the door where the two Chunin were, still grasping the girl's hand and now silent. He glanced at the sign, and then to his two teammates. They merely looked at him for a moment before he turned and continued on, cutting through the group of Genin as the tiger and wolf eyed each one they passed in suspicion. Without another word, the three climbed up the stairs leading to the true third floor.

Naruto watched them leave – watched the boy in the middle with the tiger, his dark hair flowing down his back.

_What is this… feeling in my chest…? _

"Who…" he murmured. "IS that guy?"

**End Chapter One – Paths Cross Once More**

**Well, that's that!**

**I hope you liked it!**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	2. Flashback One: Sleep

**Konnichi wa!**

**YAY! FIRST FLASHBACK! XD**

**I'm so glad you guys were excited about the sequel!**

**Please enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made Are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback One – Sleep**

_Kunai flew through the trees, slicing apart multiple branches as they sought their prey._

"_Come ON, boy…" the gruff voice echoed through the trees. "You're going to have to fight me SOMETIME or another."_

_A mocking laugh rang through the trees._

"_When I'm ready, **Zabu-kun**…"_

"_Argh – you little brat!" _

_The huge sword barreled into the trees and a small gasp was heard as the other bolted, barely managing to dodge the blade. _

"_Haku – NOW!"_

_Needles flew – some were dodged._

_Most struck. _

_With a grunt, a small shape collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard. _

_Zabuza and Haku walked forward. Haku had a smile on his face as he kneeled down next to the other. _

"_Impressive, dear one. Only a few weeks and you've improved greatly."_

_Black orbs slowly opened, half-dazed but relaxed. He didn't move._

"_Really?" The soft voice asked. Zabuza took a step forward this time, his sword slung over his shoulders. _

"_Yes, now get up brat – it's time we headed back."_

_With a barely distinguishable nod, the youngest one in the group shifted, and managed to stand without Haku's assistance. Wincing, he yanked a needle out of his shoulder._

"_A little more brutal than usual, wouldn't you say, Haku?" He snarled, his voice having the hint of playfulness that he knew Haku would without doubt pick up. Haku smiled as they walked. _

"_You're getting better. I must match that." _

_As they walked, Sasuke stopped and looked up at the sky. _

_Haku noticed this and turned._

"_What is it, dear one?" He asked. Sasuke didn't reply for a moment, gazing upwards. _

"_It might snow tonight," he murmured. _

_I want to see snow. I want to see it – _

_Haku looked skywards as well, surveying the clouds. He gave a small smile – the youngest of the group was learning how to read the weather. _

"_You may be right…" he breathed. A moment of comfortable, thoughtful silence passed between them, and Haku looked away from the heavens and back to Sasuke, who was still gazing upwards, lost in his own thoughts. He stretched out a hand. _

"_Come, dearheart," he murmured gently, taking Sasuke's hand and interlacing their fingers. "Zabuza is getting ahead."_

_The Uchiha's gaze shot to him and black orbs glared, but he didn't pull away. Haku felt joy swell within his heart. It had been four weeks since they had taken Sasuke under their wing, and the Uchiha had rejected any sort of physical contact outside of training with ferocious dislike. _

_But now – thanks to Haku's gentle, persistent pushing, his fingers were warm in Haku's own. The older of the two smiled at the younger, who was now refusing to meet his eyes – Haku could see the faintest of blushes on the smaller cheeks._

"_Let's go home."_

  

_They were in the makeshift cabin now, Haku making tea and Sasuke on a couch Zabuza had stolen previously, grimly yanking the needles out of his flesh as Zabuza doctored the wounds he couldn't reach, his fingers surprisingly gentle along Sasuke's bare skin. _

_He winced as the last bandage was tightened. _

"_Haku will disinfect them later," the assassin said blankly as Haku handed Sasuke a cup of steaming tea. _

"_Yes Zabuza-san – after he finishes." _

_Quietly, Sasuke drank the herbal tea, already knowing the other had a put a sleeping draught in it – on Zabuza's orders._

"**_He's unstable and you know it, Haku," Zabuza told the other, whose fists were clenched in disbelief – distaste. "The massacre of his clan might have had something to do with it – hell, it was probably the CAUSE of it – but we can't afford to take any chances. The boy's suicidal, Haku – we both know that – you've seen the scars on his arms. We're lucky he hasn't tried to do it again recently."_**

"_**But, still…" Haku breathed. "He doesn't trust us enough as it is – I don't want him to hate us."**_

"**_You don't want him to hate YOU," Zabuza corrected immediately. "I know Haku, I know. But something HAS to be done. If we wake up one morning and find him dead, what was the point of allowing him a second chance in the first place?"_**

"**_Still," Haku insisted. "Zabuza-san, it seems so wrong. I don't want to betray him like that!" _**

"**_You're doing it to protect him, Haku. You're not betraying him – honestly."_**

"_**It feels like it though."**_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he took the cup from his lips for one moment, but then continued to drink, closing his eyes._

_**Sasuke looked at the tea, steam rising up into his face. His face was surprisingly calm as he spoke.**_

"_**I know what you put into this tea."**_

**_Haku's eyes widened and Zabuza's own narrowed, but Sasuke didn't look up at either of them. His eyes narrowed – like Zabuza's – but unlike the assassin, the corners of those eyes burned. _**

"**_Dear one –"_**

"_**Thank you," he murmured, barely coherent, before he began to drink.**_

_**Haku's eyebrows furrowed as he surveyed the smaller boy.**_

"_**Dearheart…"**_

_**Sasuke ignored him. **_

**_I want to change. I really do. I want to stop – I know it isn't healthy. I just had no other way to distract myself from the pain. Maybe this will help me…_**

**_Three hours later, he was asleep, and not once did the thought of a blade across his skin ever cross his mind, even in dreams – as it had so often done previous to his kidnapping._**

**_And when he awoke, he was snug in the blankets of the bed Zabuza and Haku shared – the other two had made beds on the couch and floor._**

**_He saw no movement on the other two's parts as he crept to the door, peaking into the main room to see them sleeping soundly. _**

_**The corners of his eyes began to burn again – **_

"_**Thank you," he breathed before turning and crawling back into the bed, falling asleep again nearly instantly.**_

**_For some reason, the combined smells of both Haku and Zabuza were comforting, and he found himself free of nightmares. _**

_**Maybe I CAN change…**_

_Sasuke looked out the window as he drank, thinking._

_I really should hate them. _

_But then Haku caught his eye and smiled and all hatred – if there ever was any – dissolved. _

_But I can't._

_Zabuza settled next to him, rubbing his sword free of tree sap. He was warm against Sasuke's back, and the Uchiha closed his eyes._

_They might be the family… he breathed in the smell of tea, unable to detect the smell of the sleeping draught. …that I never truly had._

_He glanced to the window. His eyes widened. _

"_SNOW!" _

**End Flashback One – Sleep**

**-sigh-**

**I love this story.**

**And I have another one shot out! It's called Hotter in Copper. Please go see, yeah?**

**But the Chunin exams in this story are going to be hard to do.**

**BUT I'M GONNA DO IT! CHA! BELIEVE IT! –evil laughter-**

**Ahem – okay, I'm done. -.-;;**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	3. My Name Is

**Konnichi wa!**

**Teehee. –giggles- Writing this chapter was fun, for some reason.**

**-singing- "My name is – what? My name is – huh? My name is – wikawika – Slim Shady"**

**-laughs- Sorry. Couldn't resist. **

**EMINEM RULES! HIS SONGS ROCK!**

**Or… if you wish to call them hilarious blabbing about nothing in particular, that's fine too. :D**

**And by the way! ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**Those of you who have read The Eighth Celestial Warrior to chapter 19 – this is for you!**

**You know the scene where Sasuke is drop dead gorgeous in that sexy kimono? Well, I have decided to throw a CONTEST! –cheers-**

**If you can draw the picture of Sasuke in the drop dead gorgeous kimono, submit it (or email it to me) to deviantart, then please do so! The best drawing of Sasuke in the sexy kimono will get a FREE DEDICATION ONESHOT! WOOHOO!**

**Also – anyone else who draws a fanart for any of my stories will get a oneshot as well!**

**You guys have two months! If you DO draw it, please submit it to deviantart and alert me that you have done so, or ask for my email address if you unable to submit it to the DA site. **

**Remember you guys – two months! I look forward to all of your fanart and contest material!**

**Second chapter, everyone!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Two – My Name Is**

Naruto and the other two emerged in room 301 after meeting with Kakashi, and they were met with an entire fleet of other Genin.

Sakura felt the color drain from her face.

_Oh my God… LOOK at all these guys! I never KNEW they'd be so much competition!_

"Relax, Sakura-chan." She whirled to see Sai smiling at her. "We'll be fine." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck and making her laugh nervously.

"Sai… they're all watching – stop it!" She cooed, pushing him off.

"Knock it off you two," a familiar voice called as Kiba Inuzuka and his team appeared. "You guys can make out some other time – here it's all business!"

Naruto grinned, sharing a high-five with the dog lover.

"Hey Kiba – good to see you! Hey Akamaru!" He greeted the white pup.

"Um… uh… h-hello, N-naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered out gently, barely managing to make the words coherent. He grinned, nodding to her and making her blush even more. Shino stayed silent.

Kiba's gaze went to Sai, but the dog lover stayed silent. He didn't like the new replacement – in a way, the look-alike was worse than the Uchiha – and the Uchiha _sucked_.

_But then again, it kinda sucked seeing Naruto all down, too. _Kiba thought. _The fact that the Uchiha died completely broke him – I don't think he's gotten over it, even now. _

He sighed, and Akamaru sensed his depression and barked. He grinned.

"Yeah – okay Akamaru," Kiba said.

_I'll cheer up – I promise! _

"So you guys are here too?" A lazy voice asked as the three other rookies made their way over. "Man – this is going to be so troublesome – I shouldn't have even come."

"Shut up, Shikamaru," Ino snapped. "We honestly don't care." Then her gaze went to Sakura, who locked eyes with her.

The temperature in the room went down twenty degrees.

"Billboard brow," Ino stated.

"Ino-pig," Sakura returned.

Everyone waited for the explosion, but none came.

Laughter was heard from the other side of the door.

"_I'm very sorry Sensei – truly! I should have watched were I was going!" _A cheerful voice rang – muffled but still comprehensible – through the wood. _"Yes – I know. Yes!" _More laughter. _"Oh goodness – I hope not! Yes – okay! I promise! But once again – I'm VERY sorry for bumping into you. Gomen nasai. Yes – my teammates are in the room already and if I don't get there on time, they're going to flip! Yes – I understand! Okay – arigato… what was it?" _A pause. _"Kakashi-sensei? Okay – arigato, Kakashi-sensei, and gomen again! Sayonara!" _

The door opened.

Naruto once again saw the boy he had seen the first time, the boy's long black hair spilling over his shoulders as he surveyed the other raven-head – black eyes wide and curious and blinking.

There was a moment of silence between them.

The curious look fell from the other's face, turning into a hard, scrutinizing, scathingly dangerous gaze as his eyes traveled up and down, surveying Sai, who was looking upwards at the other – who was at least two inches taller than him.

Another moment of silence, and finally the newcomer spoke, his voice cruel.

"I don't like you," he stated simply, a very obvious hint of a snarl in his voice, making Sai blink in confusion.

_WHAT?_

"What is a _vulgar _impression of me _doing _here?" the other continued, his voice surprisingly similar to that of another's – but deeper and more mature, as Naruto didn't fail to notice. He looked Sai up and down again in distaste. "Who _ARE_ you?"

"The name's Sai," Naruto's teammate answered, bristling. If it was possible, the other's gaze hardened even more.

"Sai?" The other repeated. At a loss for what to say in response to that, Sai nodded.

The other's lips curled upwards slightly in disgust before settling again.

"So you're one of the rookies," the other stated. It wasn't a question – it was a statement – a simple recollection of cold, hard fact. Then he gave a small smirk. "Heh – I see. You better watch yourselves, especially _you_…" he surveyed Sai distastefully. "_Sai_."

"Well?" Sai demanded. "Aren't you going to give us YOUR name?"

Before he could answer, another voice – a female one – cut him off.

"Oh! There you are!"

One of the newcomer's teammates – the girl – was making her way over, easily picking her way through the dense crowd of Genin.

The newcomer's entire aura changed when he laid eyes on the girl, and he smiled, his entire body relaxing.

"Konnichi wa, Inaré!" The newcomer greeted, giving her a small wave. "Have you and Haku waited long?"

The girl named Inaré brushed Sai aside, and she and the newcomer clasped hands in greeting.

"No – only about five minutes. But we were beginning to worry – it's not like you to stall."

The other laughed cheerfully, now succeeding in ignoring Sai completely, who was glaring daggers at his back.

"That's true, isn't it? Well, I'm here now! Where are you sitting?"

"In the back," Inaré replied, taking the other's hands and gently pulling him forward, away from the nine rookies.

The other laughed and pulled Inaré closer to him, using the grip she had on his fingers.

"Why do you always sit at the back, Inaré?" He asked in his laughter. "What is it with you and this 'gotta-be-in-the-back' complex?" He did the 'quote, end-quote' sign with his fingers, making Inaré laugh and push him gently.

"Shut up you! He's perfectly fine with it!"

"So? What about me?" The other asked. Inaré laughed, and flicked him playfully on the noise.

"You don't count."

The other winced and jerked back as though he had been struck, holding his heart.

"Oh – Inaré, that hurts."

"I know – it should." The other gave her a stern glare which was ruined by the laughter in his eyes.

"That's not very nice, Inaré – oh!" He had noticed his other teammate at the very back. He waved cheerfully. "Konnichi wa, Haku!"

"Come!" The other boy called gently, smiling. "Stop causing trouble, Sasuke."

It felt like a jolt had been sent through Naruto's body.

_SASUKE? _

"WAIT!" He called to the other and Inaré, who both turned to look at him, eyes equally wide and questioning. "Who are you?" He was suddenly breathless.

The other blinked at him and cocked his head slightly, standing with his side facing Naruto and his hair gently falling about his face, framing it as his lips parted slightly, giving a subtle, natural pout. Inaré giggled beside him.

"Awe," she cooed. "What a cute little rookie! Absolutely adorable! And the whisker marks are so lovable!"

Sai tensed beside Naruto, and Naruto felt himself turn red at the comment and stutter out a thank you – it was the first time a girl ever called him 'cute', after all – making Inaré giggle even more, but the compliment quickly fell from him as he stared at the other. The first raven head silently surveyed the blonde – as if thinking of how to answer that question – before replying.

"Even though it's common courtesy to give your own name first, I will answer," he replied, suddenly very serious, though his voice was light. "My name is Sasuke."

Even Sakura – who was previously having a glaring contest with Ino all through the conversation – perked up at the name and looked around, seeing the first raven head and beginning to drool. Ino followed her gaze and began to do the same thing, and the raven head ignored both. Hope swelled in Naruto's chest –

_Oh my God – can it be – can it really be him –?_

"Sasuke Terranova."

Naruto's entire demeanor seemed to deflate, and Sakura's face fell, even though she didn't look away.

"Oh…" the blonde breathed absentmindedly, looking down and away.

Sasuke blinked.

"And you?" Naruto's head perked up at the question. "What is your name?"

"My name?" Naruto repeated. "My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke blinked again and then smiled.

"Very well then. It's nice to meet you." He gave the blonde, a challenging, provocative smirk – one that Naruto had ingrained into his mind, identical to another's – "Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto suddenly fell in love with his own name – the way Sasuke spoke – carrying an elegance in his voice and tone and drenching every syllable that left his mouth in the verbal beauty, speaking clearly and distinctly and absolutely wonderfully, especially the way he said the blonde's name. It seemed like the other – while saying his name – was tasting and judging every letter of the name. It sent unheard of shivers down Naruto's spine, shivers that he had never felt before and the other's voice sounded just so brilliant –

Naruto ached for him to say it again.

"Tsk – what a bastard," Sai commented, sliding closer to Naruto. Naruto kept staring at the other's back.

"Shut up, Sai," he said blankly, still looking at the stranger.

Sasuke Terranova felt the gaze but didn't turn to it. He suddenly fell silent, and Inaré noticed the change immediately. She turned to him.

"Sasuke?" She asked.

He didn't answer, not even when Haku came up and embraced him in greeting.

Recognition passed over her face.

"It's that kid, isn't it?" She asked in a hushed voice, pressing closer and laying a hand on his upper arm. "That kid you left behind?"

"Yes," Sasuke replied blankly. "Even four years later… he's still hurting."

His entire upper body tensed as he stared at the ground, and Haku's eyebrows furrowed. He embraced Sasuke again, rubbing comforting circles on the other's back.

"It's for the best," he murmured in the younger ear. "You'd only hurt him more if he realized you left him for the Hidden Mist Village."

"But if that boy truly loved him, then he'd forgive him!" Inaré protested, looking at Haku as she squeezed Sasuke's arm reassuringly. "Right?"

That comment made Sasuke smile grimly.

"Yes – Naruto DOES have a big heart – even now. He's managed to keep himself open – even after all this time."

_But the pain in his eyes when I told him my name was almost too much to bear – _

_I can't keep hurting him like this! Isn't four years of suffering enough –? _

"This is for the best, Sasuke," Haku breathed gently, still embracing him. "Please remember that."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Haku's head. Even though he was younger, he was still taller than the other.

"Okay."

_But something deep down in my heart is telling me that keeping the secret is the wrongest thing I could possibly do – _

"I guess we're rivals, now," Sasuke breathed, making Haku withdraw and blink up at him, his fingers clutching his sleeves. But Sasuke wasn't talking to him.

The so-called Terranova's voice was provocative, eager. It sent relief through Haku's system.

_He's back to normal – _

"Naruto Uzumaki."

**End Chapter Two – My Name Is **

**Heehee. **

**Like I said, fun to write.**

**I hope you liked it everyone!**

**AND REMEMBER! YOU'VE GOT TWO MONTHS:D**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	4. Flashback Two: Snow

**Konnichi wa!**

**Writing the flashbacks are hard. XP I prefer just writing the Chunin exams Arc, but then we get no nice, fluffy/hot ZabuSasuHakuness. **

**So I bear with it. XP**

**Please enjoy! **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Two – Snow**

_Sasuke barely managed to set his cup down before rushing out the door, the other two immediately following. _

"_Dearheart!" Haku cried at his back, but he ignored both the other and his wounds as he ran out into the forest. _

_Haku arrived at his side momentarily, looking at him as the Uchiha stared upwards at the sky. _

_Little dots of snow were falling down – Sasuke had been right. The youngest of the three watched – entranced – as a snowflake fell down in front of his eyes, landing on his nose. _

_Haku smiled as Zabuza surveyed the area for intruders. _

"_Did you know, dearheart, that no two snowflakes are exactly alike?" Haku asked softly. Sasuke shifted his gaze to look at him._

"_No – I didn't. How do you know?" _

_Haku gave him a small smile. _

"_I know because my mother told me the same thing," he replied. Sasuke's eyes turned dark and his eyebrows narrowed. He glanced back down to the ground. _

_Mother…_

_He forced the dark thoughts from his mind – there was no sense in breaking down AGAIN. _

_Haku noticed his discomfort._

"_What is it, dear one?" He asked softly. Sasuke shook his head, looking back to the sky. _

"_Nothing," he murmured. Haku blinked at him before his own eyes narrowed in uncertainty, and he looked to see a few feet of snow already around them. He glanced back up at Sasuke. _

"_Dearheart?" _

_Sasuke looked at him. Haku smiled at him._

"_Have you ever made a snowball?" _

_Sasuke blinked. _

"_A snowball? No – it never snowed in Konoha." _

_**A SHARP PAIN ERUPTED IN HIS CHEST – **_

_Haku laughed and took Sasuke's hand._

"_Well, I will show you." He kneeled and gently tugged the littler one down with him. He took a handful of snow, showing it to Sasuke. "See? When this type of snow is fresh, it sticks together better. You gather a handful, and pat it into a sphere." Haku demonstrated, showing the ball to the other. "See?" _

_Sasuke grumbled and looked away. _

"_This is so stupid – a waste of time," Haku heard him mutter. He smiled and tossed a bit of snow into the pitch black hair in front of him, making the Uchiha glare at him. _

"_You wanted to see snow, dearheart – might as well have some fun with it now that God has given it to you. Come – try it." _

_Giving Haku another half-hearted glare, Sasuke slid his fingers into the powdery, crisp snow, effortlessly pulling up a large handful. _

_He glanced at Haku, who immediately realized what Sasuke was trying to say. Smiling softly, the older of the two took more snow in his hands and molded it slowly, allowing Sasuke to study and mimic his movements. _

"_You press and mold it softly – gently," Haku taught as they worked. "It takes time to form the perfect snowball. Become impatient or angry, squeeze too hard –"_

_The snow underneath Sasuke's fingers burst from the inside out, showering both of them in white fluff. Haku giggled and smiled as Sasuke silently fumed. _

"_And it WILL burst. You have to be patient." Haku took more snow in his hands and tipped the whiteness into Sasuke's own palms. "Try again." _

_Shooting Haku a glare, Sasuke complied. _

_Zabuza watched – dare I say amusedly? – as Sasuke, at first stiff and unwilling and grumpy, slowly lost his bad mood to the challenge of molding his first perfect snowball while Haku looked on with a happy smile, shaping his own snow sphere expertly without looking. The Uchiha watched with wide, curious eyes as Haku demonstrated exactly where to press and where to smooth to make the snow sphere perfect. Sasuke's eyebrows were furrowed with the most absolute of concentrations, his fingers gliding over the snow and pressing, growing more and more skilled at the strange art. The glare that had formerly filled his eyes was lost entirely. _

_Haku and Sasuke spoke as they worked – merely about the snow. Haku told the Uchiha all the myths and legends of the snow and winter he could think of – anything to keep the curious, attentive gleam in the dark orbs. All the while their fingers moved, shaping and smoothing and curving the white purity underneath their fingers. _

_Sasuke was so intent on listening – so intent on the story of a goddess that cried snow when she was happy – that he didn't notice the snowball in his hand. _

_Haku however, did, and he smiled at Sasuke, finishing the story. _

"_Dear one," he began softly. He cupped Sasuke's hands in his and raised them, allowing Sasuke to see his own snowball, which was cupped in the younger one's palms. "Look." _

_It was a perfect snowball. _

_Sasuke blinked at the ball of white and smirked, a victorious, yet, mischievous look in his eyes. _

_Zabuza, who had lost interest a while back and was staring out into space, didn't think he would be attacked when the forest was completely empty save for him and two others that were loyal to him (albeit with Sasuke, by force). _

_However, he was. _

_The snowball Sasuke had spent so long making slammed into the assassin's head and burst on contact, covering Zabuza's shoulders and neck with a sheet of white. The force of the throw hadn't even made Zabuza's head twitch to the side. _

_Sasuke cheered, jumping up into the air and stretching his legs as Haku stood and smiled – amused – at Zabuza, chuckling behind a hand. _

_Zabuza – with one strong shake – forced off all the snow, but by then the wound had been made. He glared at the littlest Uchiha. _

"_So, you wanna play like THAT, do you?" He asked, making Sasuke calm down and blink at him. Zabuza unsheathed his huge sword. "FINE!" _

_He leaped forward and swung the sword. _

_The blade bit deep into the snow right in front of Sasuke's feet, and Zabuza yanked it upwards, showering the Uchiha in a wave of snow. _

_Haku chuckled a little harder. _

_Sasuke's head shot out from the resulting pile of snow, and he shook his head to rid his hair of the fluff. He glared up at Zabuza, who was smirking down at him, right next to the huge mound. _

"_Heh – serves you right," the assassin said. _

_The Uchiha exploded up out of the snow, showering Zabuza in the whiteness. The assassin glared at Sasuke, sheathing his sword across his back once more. _

"_Tsk – fine!" _

_There was silence for a moment._

_Then the assassin bolted down into a crouch and grabbed some snow, immediately making a huge snowball and launching it at Sasuke._

"_SNOWBALL FIGHT!" _

_Sasuke and Haku both launched into action, grabbing snow and leaping away as Zabuza fired snowball after snowball, making them with a precision that would have been lethal had he been making weapons. _

_Haku smiled and laughed as he threw a snowball at Sasuke, and the Uchiha countered by throwing his own snowball, making them collide in midair and bursting in a brilliant spray of white. _

_Then both Zabuza and Haku launched huge snowballs at Sasuke, and the Uchiha covered his head as both collided, covering him in snow. _

_Sasuke slowly looked up at them, then at himself. _

_There was silence for a moment. _

_Then it was broken. _

_Laughter flooded through the trees, and both Haku and Zabuza's eyes widened. _

_Sasuke was laughing. _

_No way…_

_The Uchiha's eyes were crinkled up in upside-down 'u's as he laughed, his arms still covering his head as he doubled over. _

_Haku and Zabuza could only stare at him for a moment. _

_Then something collided with both of the backs of their heads, and they whirled to see another Sasuke standing behind them, both arms outstretched and a victorious, lopsided grin on his face. _

_The Sasuke Haku and Zabuza hit vanished – it had been a clone. _

_Both of them exchanged glances and laughed, lurching down to grab more snow as they ran towards the real Sasuke, launching the snowballs. _

_Two hours passed, and Zabuza and Sasuke stopped for a long-denied break for breath. The assassin looked down at the Uchiha, and noticed the child's eyes drooping shut._

_So the drug's finally working. Zabuza thought. _

_Sasuke couldn't keep his eyes open – the thin lines of flesh slid closed and he tilted forward, unable to stop his fall. _

_Zabuza simply raised an arm and caught the boy around the chest, easily lifting up the small body and cradling it in his arms. _

"_C'mon Haku," he called to the other, who had been silently watching from the side. "It gets late." _

_Haku nodded and followed. _

_Once back at the cabin, Haku gently undressed Sasuke, doctoring his wounds and doing the necessaries to prevent infection. Then he redressed the Uchiha's injuries and clothed the other – this time in pajamas. Sasuke didn't open his eyes once, and Zabuza lifted Sasuke up, carrying him to the couch where the Uchiha's bed was already made. _

_As the covers were pulled over Sasuke's shoulders, and Zabuza watched as the Uchiha turned onto his side and curled up into a ball, Haku came to the assassin's side. _

_There was silence between them for a moment. _

"_You know, I don't think Sasuke is the only one being changed here," Haku commented, glancing meaningfully at the older._

_Zabuza smirked. _

"_Yes. You could be right." _

_It had never stopped snowing. _

**End Flashback Two – Snow **

**Awe… fluffiness by the truckload – thanks Haku! –waves to fluff muse- **

**I hope you enjoyed the second flashback!**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	5. Hidden Strength

**Konnichi wa!**

**KYAH! –dodges sharp objects- OKAY! OKAY! I KNOW I KNOW!**

**-sigh- Yeah – I know I haven't updated in forever – what can I say? My muses didn't want to poke my forehead and I was too lazy to update. -.-**

**I'm sorry. :(**

**But, to make it up, I've updated nearly all of my stories. I won't be updating as often as I did – school's almost over and it's being a bitch with all the projects and the papers and – UGH!**

**So… yeah. I'm not dead. Yet. My fate is in your dear hands, my lovely reviewers.**

**Oh crap. I'm gonna die. –starts writing will-**

**But, here's the next chapter. You had no idea how hard I had to squeeze my brain in order to get so many updates out. Yeah – sorry! –bows-**

**I hope you like it!**

**Promises Not Made Are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Three – Hidden Strength**

"So, you are the nine rookies, huh?" The nine looked over to see a fellow Leaf Genin walk over to them, gray hair and glasses catching the light. "Fresh out of the academy, right?"

"That's right," Shikamaru replied. "What's it to you?"

The newcomer shrugged nonchalantly.

"The name's Kabuto. Kabuto Yakushi. I've been coming to these Chunin exams for over three years now."

This caught the group's attention in the back, and Sasuke set his hand on the tiger's head to still her.

"Hush, Dagina-chan," Sasuke breathed to her. "Hush."

"She's uneasy," Inaré stated, her hand on her own animal's head. "Look – even Kaoru grew restless when that Genin spoke."

"He's of the Leaf Village," Sasuke chose his words carefully – other candidates were listening in, after all – eyeing the new Genin suspiciously. "But three years? Going on a fourth? He can't be THAT bad of a ninja."

Inaré looked at Haku.

"Haku, out of the three of us, YOU are the best at gauging a ninja's power. What do you think?"

The other boy blinked at her and then peered through the crowd at Kabuto.

"He's hiding something," he replied simply. Sasuke and Inaré exchanged glances before falling silent, turning their heads to watch the rookies and the other named Kabuto.

"Wow! Three years?" Sakura exclaimed. "Then you must be a pro at the Chunin exams!"

Kabuto laughed bitterly.

"Yeah – I'm a pro at knowing that everyone here is touchy, so you'd best not get in their way. Rookies like you – you're the ones that tend to get crushed the fastest. BUT," he cut off Naruto, who was just about to retort. "Since you're new and all, I think I'll help you out some." He raised a hand to his face, showing the nine an orange and black card. "These are what I like to call my Chakra Data Cards. I put information I have learned about the Chunin exams AND the candidates on these cards. Over the past three years, I've gathered over two hundred cards." He held up one, showing it to the others.

Naruto blinked.

"Your eyesight must be bad, Kabuto," he commented. "That card is blank."

Kabuto gave Naruto a look the blonde knew all too well – one that called him all kinds of idiot.

_You can't look at me like that you BASTARD –!_

_Only one person can and he's fucking DEAD –!_

Naruto's eyed darkened slightly, but he willed the sadness away as Kabuto began speaking again.

"Of course it's blank – I have a lot of valuable data in these cards. I can't let just ANYONE read them." He smirked. "These are infused with my Chakra. Only _I _can reveal their secrets. Observe."

He took one card from the deck and kneeled down on the floor, setting the card blank side up and placing his middle finger on the surface. A little flick of his wrist, and the card began to spin, glowing green. A small 'poof' and a miniature cloud of smoke revealed a map of the five Great Countries.

Sai glanced at the group in the back long enough to lock eyes with Sasuke, and daggers were shot in the other's direction.

Sasuke raised a disgusted oh-you-did-NOT-just-do-that eyebrow Sai's way and then rolled his eyes, shaking his head in a disbelieving fashion.

_Tsk – I can't BELIEVE you just did that. Typical. _

That only pissed off Sai all the more, and Sasuke knew this perfectly well as he tilted his head back and surveyed Sai mockingly, winking and sticking out his tongue playfully.

_See? You can't touch me. _He seemed to say. Sai huffed, and then took a step forward, so that he was in front of Kabuto.

"Kabuto… was it?" He asked. The other looked up at him.

"That's right," the other replied. Sai gazed down at him.

"You said you have information on the candidates…?" At Kabuto's nod, he continued. "Which ones?"

Kabuto smirked.

"Nearly everyone. I can find anyone you want. Give me a description – what they look like, what they can do, what village they're in – anything at all, and I'll let you see what I have on them."

"There IS one…" Sai glanced up once more and caught Sasuke's eye again. The other's eyes were filled with mocking superiority.

_Go ahead – I DARE you. _His smirk seemed to breathe. Sai's eyes narrowed and he looked back to Kabuto.

"Sasuke Terranova, of the Village Hidden in the Mist," he said. Kabuto gave a small pout.

"Awe – you even know his name! That makes it easy!" Within a moment's time, he held up one card. "Here it is."

"Show it to me," Sai ordered. Kabuto was half-tempted to not show him the card until he said 'please', but something told him Sai wasn't in the mood to joke around, so without another word, he set his middle finger on the card and the poof of smoke resulted.

"Here it is."

The smoke cleared, and everyone gasped.

A picture of Sasuke had appeared on the card, along with name of the village he was from and its location. Two boxes below that held pictures of his teammates with names underneath them, and a box that was supposed to hold a picture of his Jounin teacher was blank. Below that was a diagram that showed his strengths and weaknesses, and to the right of that below the large picture was the number of missions he had and for what rank.

"Let's see here…" Kabuto paused – even he could never get over this fact. "Every single ninja ability capable of being learned, his skill is off the charts. Ninjutsu, genjustu, taijutsu, Chakra control, amout of jutsus learned – he excels at all of them. He's the most powerful of his team, but the others are only worse than him by barely a fractional amount. Wow – I'd HATE to go against him."

Sai's eyes had widened, and before he could, his eyes had flashed to Sasuke, who held a smug, arrogant look on his face.

_Still think you have a chance? _His eyes asked Sai.

"Wow. And get this!" Everyone's eyes were drawn back to Kabuto. "He's had no D OR C ranked missions! Instead, he's had thirteen B-ranked missions and five A-ranks!"

Everyone nearly fell over.

"There's no way!" Sakura exclaimed. "A Genin can't have that kind of power! That's not possible!"

"It IS possible, actually." The group looked around to see Sasuke's team had left their seats and had appeared in front of them. Inaré had been the one who spoke. "The proof is right here in front of you – you dare doubt our word?"

"It's not very polite to give away a person's information without their consent," Sasuke coolly told Kabuto, who stiffened underneath the gaze. "But I must give you some leeway – at least your information is correct."

Kabuto breathed easier.

Inaré smiled brightly.

"We were even asked to do an S-ranked mission, but we couldn't accept it because the Chunin exams would clash with the dates of the mission!" She revealed brightly.

Sasuke's eyes went to Sai. He grinned satanically.

"So tell me, _Sai_," the way he hissed out the name made Sai wince. "You still wanna try to pick a fight with me?"

Sai didn't answer – he was cut off by another from the back.

"Che – please!"

The three looked over their shoulder to see a Sound ninja – Zaku – standing up.

"You honestly expect us to believe that Genin were allowed to do A and B-ranked missions? That's complete bullshit! The Village Hidden in the Mist must be pretty lame that they have to let GENIN do their higher level missions! Either that or their A-ranked missions are our D-ranked!"

Sasuke's gaze turned icy. He surveyed Zaku with daggers in his eyes.

"Really? Has your pathetic brain ever stopped to include the fact that maybe OUR village is just a more powerful village than the mysterious SOUND village? And that YOUR A-ranked missions are OUR D-ranked missions?" He asked, eyes flashing dangerously. Dagina growled at his feet, crouching close to the ground. Zaku's eyes narrowed.

"THAT'S IT!" He leaped forward towards Sasuke. "GET READY TO DIE!"

NO one expected the fight to be over so quickly.

Sasuke caught the fist aimed his way and pulled Zaku to him, raising a knee to slam it into Zaku's stomach.

Releasing Zaku's wrist, he stretched his arm forward past Zaku's shoulder as the other folded in half around his knee, and his fist clenched. Powerfully, he pulled his elbow backwards and rammed the sharpest bone in his body deep into the back of Zaku's neck.

Slipping away from the other like water, Sasuke allowed Zaku to land heavily onto the floor, not a black hair out of place. He didn't even look fazed by the sudden assault, and the other two hadn't lifted a finger to assist him.

Naruto's eyes were wide.

_Incredible! _He thought. _I didn't even see him MOVE! One moment the guy was charging and the next he was on the floor! That's amazing! _

_That guy isn't normal! _Sakura thought. _I've never SEEN a Genin that strong! Sasuke couldn't even come CLOSE to matching HIS strength OR speed!_

_Something's up with that kid. _Shikamaru thought numbly. _What type of Genin HAS that type of power?_

_That's really scary! _Ino thought, trembling. _Wow – we're nothing compared to him! Remind me to never get on his bad side!_

Even Choji had stopped his constant munching on junk food.

_That's really impressive…_

_Oh my! _Hinata thought. _He's so strong! Even stronger than Naruto-kun and Neji-nii-san!_

_That's some power. _Shino thought idly. _I wonder if he gained it all by himself. _

_Insane! _Kiba thought as Akamaru cowered underneath his hood. _I wouldn't be surprised if that guy is DEAD!_

_Wow. _Tenten thought, sitting on a table in the crowd with Lee and Neji at her sides. _He could even beat Neji. Was he even TRYING?_

_So… _Neji thought, idly imaging a fight between him and Sasuke. _The Village Hidden in the Mist has some good ninja after all. Interesting._

_Impressive! _Lee thought, passion burning in his eyes as he clenched a fist. _This will be a most interesting challenge!_

_Tsk – who does this kid think he is? _Temari thought sharply, sneering. _All talk, I'll bet. That Sound ninja is just a chump. _

_He's a complete and total brat. _Kankuro concluded. _He's so braggy – it really grates on my nerves!_

Gaara's eyes narrowed. _Sasuke… Terranova…_

His blood began to pulse.

Sai was at a loss for words.

_Oh God, WHAT have I gotten myself into…?_

Kabuto gulped.

_So THAT was the power my master sensed…_

_Could he be…?_

_The one with the hidden strength?_

**End Chapter Three – Hidden Strength**

**Ow. My brain hurts. –rubs brain-**

**And for those of you who live in the United States – have you seen the third Pirates of the Carribean movie?**

**Hot DAMN that movie rocks! I LUV JOHNNY DEPP! –heart- He plays Captain Jack Sparrow so WELL:D**

**But yeah – I'm really sorry for not updating in forever! Hopefully this many updates will make up for it, yeah:D**

**And I have a new story out! I'm killing myself slowly but surely! XD**

**It's called, Creation of Bloodlust – please go read!**

**And I have an account at I would really appreciate if you guys read the two stories I've posted! They're the starting chapters of two books that I've written! My Penname is **_**Raining-Flames-and-Roses**_** and the stories are called **_**Dungeon Master's Beast **_**and **_**From Here to Hell, I Stand Tall**_

**You can find the links on my profile, if I'm not mistaken. **

**Review?**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	6. Flashback Three: Smile

**Konnichi wa!**

**Wah! I love this flashback! Hurry! Read it read it read it! **

**-runs away so she doesn't use up any more time-**

**READ IT!**

**Oh!**

**Please?**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Three – Smile**

_When Sasuke awoke again, it was dark. Shifting slightly, he turned over on his other side and looked out the window. A powerful tremor ran through his frame, and he shuddered, burrowing himself deeper into the blankets. _

_Ugh – what TIME is it?_

_By the soft noises coming from the next room, Haku and Zabuza were still asleep. For a while, Sasuke merely looked out the window above the sink, watching the snow gently drift downwards past the glass. _

_Eventually, the soft breathing of the two in the next room soothed him to sleep again._

_**It was dark. Horribly, horribly, painfully dark and he hated it. **_

_**What on earth is going on?**_

_**It was then he heard soft gasping coming from right in front of him, and he took a step forward.**_

_**What the…?**_

_**As soon as he took that step, the darkness seemed to lift, and he saw a VERY familiar door about twenty feet ahead of him. His eyes widened.**_

_**No – it can't be!**_

_**He found himself walking towards the door, his footfalls soft against the dark floor. With all his will, he tried to fight against his feet.**_

_**No – I don't want to see this!**_

_**But his body was out of his control, and his feet carried him until he was within a foot of the door.**_

_**No – this already happened! This can't be real!**_

_**Slowly, his hand reached up and grabbed the edge of the sliding door, pushing it to the side and revealing the next room. All this time his mind was screaming at his hand to stop.**_

_**I DON'T WANT THIS!**_

_**Two people were tied together – back to back – in the middle of the floor and bodies limp – as if they were under some sort of spell.**_

_**He tried to run – tried to make his body turn and force his legs to carry him away as fast as possible – but his will had no effect on his limbs, and he found himself walking forward. **_

"_**No," he heard himself say. "No – what's going on?"**_

_**Please God – stop!**_

_**A man was standing behind the two – facing him. His face however, was hidden in shadow, and all he could recognize was the steel armor of the Anbu uniform.**_

"_**Stop! What're you doing?"**_

_**This is a dream – it HAS to be! This already happened, damn it all –**_

_**The other didn't answer, lifting up a thin blade and tilting it back – as if he intended to chop off the two people's heads. **_

_**His eyes widened. **_

"_**No – STOP!" **_

_**A cruel, cold voice cut through the air.**_

"_**This is all for you." **_

_**He leaped forward. **_

"_**NO!" **_

_**The sword swung down.**_

"_**STOP!**__**"**_

_**No – not again!**_

_**Blood splattered, and the hot copper hit his face as the man slammed a knee into his stomach, making him fall to the floor with a grunt.**_

_**As he sat up, he raised his eyes in time to see one of the heads roll to face him, the eyes dull. **_

_**His own eyes widened as it felt like his heart had been dropped into his feet and cold water rushed over his entire being.**_

_**Oh GOD no…**_

_**The head bore Haku's face.**_

"

_With a yell, he fell to the floor with a loud 'thump', the blankets entangling him and making him thrash. _

_There was suddenly commotion all around him, and he refused to open his eyes, knowing that if he did he would see the white walls in the hospital room and the IV drip in his arm and the doctor there to tell him that they were dead._

_No – I can't accept that!_

_Arms were around him – arms tried to detangle him from the heavy blankets – but he fought against those too refusing to open his eyes – knowing he'd see white. _

"_Dearheart!" A very familiar voice called to him – as if from far away. "Dearheart, please – wake up! It's okay! Please – wake up! DEARHEART!" _

_Wait, dearheart? But that was what…_

_It can't be. I thought he was…_

"_Dearheart – please! Wake up!" It sounded like the other was crying, and he felt arms try to embrace him again, the smell of crisp, clean rain engulfing him. _

_Oh my God. There's no way…_

"_**DEARHEART!**__"_

_Unable to believe it, his eyes snapped open._

_The first thing he saw wasn't white – but deep brown eyes, made crystalline by tears. His head was resting in the other's lap, the other's hands on his face, gently holding his cheeks._

_It took two tears to fall onto his face before he realized that the other was okay. _

_Before anyone could say anything, Sasuke was up and wrapping his arms around the other, burying his head into the other's neck as his shoulders began to shake. _

_Numbly, Haku returned the embrace, and gave Zabuza a concerned glance as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The assassin shrugged – he was as befuddled as his smaller charge._

_It took a moment for Haku to realize Sasuke was murmuring something into his throat. Haku blinked and listened more attentively when the smaller repeated it. _

"_I don't know what I would do…" he mumbled, tightening his grip around the older boy as if he were the most precious person in the world. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you too." _

_Understanding passed across Haku's face, and he gave a small smile, wrapping his arms more fully around the younger boy._

"_It's okay, dearheat," he murmured into the other's ear. "It's okay – I'm here for you – I'm here. I'm okay." _

_I'm not going to die on you._

_After a few shaky breaths, the trembling in Sasuke's shoulders stilled, and Haku allowed him to stay in the embrace, running his fingers soothingly over the other's tense back._

"_Just sleep, my dear," he breathed to the other. "Sleep and be at ease."_

_I'll be here when you wake up._

_In a few minutes, Sasuke's breathing had slowed, and Haku shifted him slightly to see the other's young face creaseless. _

_Zabuza shook his head distastefully. _

"_So that's all it was, then?" He asked, careful not to wake his smallest charge. "Just a bad dream?" _

_Haku looked down at Sasuke's face and a small smile appeared on his lips. He let his head fall and nuzzled the Uchiha's black hair affectionately. _

"_He's just a child, Zabuza," he reminded the assassin after a moment. "Bad dreams happen."_

"_It wasn't a dream – it was more like a nightmare," Zabuza commented, correcting himself. "I've never seen a child thrash like that before – he was in complete panic."_

_Haku nodded, fighting the pleased smile that wanted to shape his lips._

"_Yes – he was."_

_Zabuza raised an eyebrow at him – he knew Haku knew something that he wasn't telling his older companion._

"_Any ideas why?"_

_This time, Haku couldn't stop the pleased, embarrassed smile that controlled his face, and it felt like a sun had burst in his stomach as he repeated Sasuke's words in his mind._

"_Because. He was worried about me."_

_Zabuza's eyes widened. _

"_You mean…?" _

_Haku nodded._

"_Yes," he confirmed softly, running soothing fingers through Sasuke's hair. "He had a dream that I had died."_

"_And it affected him that much?" Zabuza asked. "After only four weeks? There's no way!" _

_Haku gave a soft, commenting 'hmmm…' at Zabuza's words, but said nothing more, gazing lovingly down at the boy in his arms, eyes shining._

"_Come, Zabuza-san," he lifted his eyes to look at the other. "Let's put him to bed." _

_After a moment of merely surveying the two on the floor – as if wondering what on earth he was going to do with the pair – Zabuza shifted and kneeled down in front of Haku, sliding his arms beneath the smallest of the three and attempting to lift him up._

_His attempt was thwarted, however, when Sasuke unconsciously tightened his grip around Haku's chest, refusing to let the older boy go. _

_Zabuza glared at him – annoyed – as Haku fought from giggling._

"_Damn stubborn kid!" He hissed, attempting to lift him up again only to have Sasuke's hold on Haku tighten once more. _

_Fighting against laughter, Haku ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair._

"_Come now, little one," he breathed to the other. "We're putting you to bed – don't worry – I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right by your side – I promise." _

_He kissed the other's forehead – right on his left temple._

_I'm not going to leave you._

_After a moment, Sasuke's hold loosened, and the sleeping boy allowed himself to be lifted up, cradled protectively in Zabuza's powerful arms._

"_C'mon," he told Haku. "Put him in the bed with you. I'll take the couch. I don't think even a sleeping boy will let you out of his sight."_

_Haku gave Zabuza a small smile and nodded. _

_Silently, the two went into the other room, and Zabuza set the child gently on the bed after Haku had pulled back the covers, unconsciously brushing a few stray hairs out of the boy's sleeping face – a motion that Haku didn't miss. _

"_Don't have any more bad dreams, brat," Zabuza told the sleeping boy before he left the bedside. "I don't wanna wake up in the middle of the night for you again!"_

_I don't wanna wake up in the middle of the night worried because something might have happened to you!_

_Haku caught the hidden message not even Zabuza was aware of and smiled. _

"_Good night, Zabuza-san," he breathed softly. The assassin nodded to him. _

"_See you in the morning, Haku." With that, the door clicked shut. _

_Still smiling, Haku quietly pulled up a chair right next to Sasuke, and absentmindedly trailed his fingers down the other's pale arm as he thought._

_Dear one, you were really worried about me?_

_Even then it was hard to believe. The sun rose in Haku's stomach again, letting his smile widen._

_Haku's fingers reached the back of the boy's hand and down his fingers, and the hand waited until he was just about to pull away completely before reaching out and gripping the hand, pressing the fingers together._

_Blinking, Haku watched as the hand pulled his own back down, and his eyes widened in understanding. Then they narrowed as warmth filled them._

_Softly, he shifted his hand until his fingers were laced – comforting and warm – in Sasuke's own. _

_Glancing up at Sasuke's face, Haku was just in time to catch the soft, relieved smile._

_That expression only made Haku smile too, feeling as if he was about to burst from pride and happiness._

_He's finally learning to accept us – accept ME._

_His fingers tightened around Sasuke's own._

_Dearheart, I was worried about you too._

_The smile never left Sasuke's face._

**Flashback Three – Smile **

**YAY! YOU READ IT! –cheers-**

**I love this flashback! I think this is like – my favorite one to date! Even though there are only two others besides this…**

**OH WELL!**

**I hope you guys liked it!**

**And only four more reviews on Treacherous Heart and we get 500! (as of right now, on July 19, 2007 at 5:00 p.m.!) KYAH! I'M SO EXCITED! ONLY 500 MORE TO GO! 1,000, HERE I COME!**

**Teehee – what can I say? I've got high hopes… :D**

**Review?**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	7. War Before the First

**Konnichi wa.**

**Nope. No excuses. Well, at least no excuses you would probably want to hear. It's just that I'm loving Life at the moment, though it loves being a bitch. XP**

**Please don't hurt me. I die, no updates. –smiles-**

**By the way ladies and gents, just in case there's ANY confusion about what's what, I will lay it down for you.**

**FOR A NORMAL CHAPTER:**

Regular Font: Normal

_Italicized Font: Thoughts_

_Italicized and Underlined: Thoughts or Words that have been previously thought or spoken_

**_Bold and Italicized: Flashback_**

**Anything else you see, I don't know at the moment.**

**By the way, I have polls. I will attach them to forums later. When I do (or, if I don't need to) GO VOTE!**

**Thank you.**

**Much love, you guys. Sorry for the delay. **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Four – War Before the First **

"So now you see." They all blinked and looked to see that Sasuke had taken a few steps forward to his team, his back to the rookie nine as Inaré looped her arms around his waist, looking over his shoulder at the rookies as she spoke. "We're not to be messed with – everyone in this room should take care to remember that."

"Whatever!"

Inaré and Haku turned to see Dosu – one of Zaku's teammates – glaring at them.

"I've had enough of this!" He leaped forward. "Prepare to die!"

"They just don't get it, do they?" Haku asked softly. Sasuke didn't blink.

"So it seems. Inaré!" He commanded, not even down at her. She immediately took her arms from his waist and whirled to face Dosu.

"Right!" She replied crisply.

Dosu swung his right arm –

Raising both hands, Inaré blocked the blow, gripping Dosu's wrist and upper arm, swiftly seeking to break the limb.

Before she could, a blast of sound erupted from the holes in Dosu's armguards, slamming into both her and Sasuke who was behind her.

They both winced and closed their eyes against the pain, but didn't slide backwards as the Chakra pushed at them.

There was silence for a moment.

Gasping, Inaré raised her head, glaring at Dosu.

"You call _THAT _an attack?" She snarled. Dosu's eyes widened as Sasuke also raised his head, hands over his heart as if in pain.

"_Inaré_," he growled, eyes shooting spitfire.

She nodded, her face splitting into a grin.

"I'll show _YOU _an attack!" Taking a step forward, she mightily pushed Dosu back towards the crowd, immediately wrenching her arms back behind her as if she were about to fly. As if in slow motion, she yanked her arms back in front of her to slam her palms together, crying out,

"_**SONIC BOOM!**__" _

A powerful pulse of Chakra exploded from her palms as if it had been squeezed out through the barrel of a gun, slamming into Dosu and sending him flying to crash headfirst into the chalkboard at the far end of the room.

There was a collective gasp as Inaré smirked, straightening. Then she turned her right shoulder to the crowd, raising a finger to touch the corner of her mouth, a playful smile on her face.

"Oops! Did I hurt the poor wittle boy?" She cooed with mock worry. Kin stared at both Sasuke and Inaré in shock.

"No… way!" She gasped out.

Sasuke smiled at her, a satanic gleam in his eyes.

"Way," he breathed.

At his feet, the other stirred. Haku blinked.

"It seems the other is waking," he commented softly.

Sasuke sneered down at Zaku, leaning down and gripping the other's throat.

"Yes. The foolish little boy is waking," he cooed in a mocking motherly tone. Straightening his spine, he easily lifted Zaku up by the throat, not squeezing but picking up the other at least a foot and a half off the floor.

"Zaku!" Kin cried.

Blearily, Zaku opened his eyes. Inaré exchanged glances with Haku.

"You're losing patience," she told Sasuke sharply. "Just give the boy up and relax. They're gotten the point."

Slowly, Sasuke turned his head to look at her for a moment – his black eyes drilling mercilessly into hers – before tsking and carelessly tossing the comatose Zaku to his teammate. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You might want to check on your other teammate," he told Kin coldly. Then he turned to look over his shoulder to the rookie nine, flashing them a bright smile. "Good luck with the exam!"

Crisply nodding to Haku and Inaré, Sasuke walked back to his seat, the other two in his wake.

Silently, they took a seat, leaving a shocked rookie nine in their wake.

_He changed so fast! _Naruto thought. _First he was nice and kind, and the next – ugh, so cold! _He gulped. _I don't wanna mess with him! _

"You overdid it, Sasuke," Inaré breathed immediately after sitting down, keeping her voice low. "Now people are going to suspect."

Sasuke scoffed.

"Let them suspect then," he replied, arms and legs crossed with nose in the air. Then he opened his eyes and smirked. "More fun for us."

Inaré and Haku exchanged worried glances right when a huge smoke bomb erupted at the front of the room.

"All right you Genin, settle down!" A sharp voice barked as the smoke cleared, revealing a man surrounded by ninja dressed in identical gray uniforms. "I am Ibiki Morino, and I will be your proctor today!" Everyone looked at the front as Ibiki threw out his arm, motioning to them. "The first Chunin exam starts _NOW_!"

**End Chapter Four – War Before the First**

**-sighs in bliss- Ah… I am reminded why I love this story.**

**Review please? Sorry for the length. -bows-**

**By the way, I have a new one shot out. It's called _Sleeker in Silver_. Please go read?**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	8. Flashback Four: Loved

**Good evening everyone. Or rather good morning. Early morning. What the hell are all of you doing up so late? (for those of you in MY time frame) **

**Yes, yes – I know, I know. "Why haven't you been updating?" "Are you dead?" "When are you going to update?" "PLEASE UPDATE!! WITHOUT YOUR STORIES THERE IS NO REASON FOR **_**LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!!**_**" **

**Yes. That last one was a true story. Kit-chan, I love you.**

**But anyway, yes, yes – I know everyone, I know. Allow me to explain.**

**The Honors curriculum at my school and my bastard of an ex had both sucked all of the energy out of me. That and Yu-Gi-Oh Abrigded got me hooked on good ole Yugi and SEXYAS**_**HELL**_** Yami, and it took everything in my power to continue writing Naruto again and NOT start a YGO story. **

"_**You already have like, a bajillion Naruto stories still in the works, dammit. WORK ON THOSE!!" **_

**And thus my muses screamed at me as such, angry and hurt at being neglected for so long. I'm sorry, my babies. –kisses muses- **

**Well… I have several other reasons for not updating when I SHOULD. –hits self- And the brunt of it has been laid upon my most recent update of Treacherous Heart. I'm so sorry, my darling. –smooches TH- But, let's face it, you're my online ranting place. **

**Enjoy, everyone!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Four – Loved**

_Slowly, Sasuke woke to a wonderful warmth, and he looked outside wearily to see snowflakes gently drifting outside. Grunting softly, he shifted in the warm bed. _

"_Good. You're awake." _

_He shot up into a sitting position to see Haku standing by the bed, a steaming cup in his hands. Sasuke shifted again, the air of the cabin colder than his bed. He yawned, rubbing his eyes._

"_Hmm… Haku." _

_The other boy smiled warmly at the way the other said his name – so cute and oh-so tired – and held the steaming cup out to the raven. _

"_Here, drink this. It'll make you feel better." _

_Sleep still weighing down his limbs, Sasuke took the cup and began to sip the tea slowly, allowing the warmth to spread through him. Haku smiled at him, coming closer to the bed. _

"_Scoot over," he ordered playfully. Sasuke complied, scooting up on the bed to allow Haku to sit behind him, the other setting his hands on the Uchiha's back as his feet dangled over the side. _

"_Did you sleep well, dearheart?" Haku asked softly, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's waist. The Uchiha blushed at the sudden intimate contact, but did nothing to push the other away. He nervously looked down at the mug in his hands, acutely aware of Haku's warm, even breath directly on his throat. _

"_Fine," he replied softly. Haku smiled, even though the Uchiha wasn't able to see it. _

"_That's wonderful dearheart," he breathed, making the Uchiha fight down a shudder as his breath hit the back of the younger boy's neck. Suddenly he shifted, taking his arms from Sasuke's waist and making to get out of the bed. "Zabuza has given you the day off today, so rest up." _

_Sasuke's eyes widened as an unnatural wave of panic swept through him. _

_No don't leave me not again–_

_Before he could shout something absolutely embarrassing, he realized that Haku WASN'T leaving, but only pulling up his legs to slip under the covers on Sasuke's other side, curling up close to the Uchiha. _

"_Just go to sleep, dearheart," he murmured as he settled down, letting his fingers run through the Uchiha's soft strands, gently massaging the other's head in a way he KNEW would calm the other down. _

_Slowly, Haku's fingers still caressing his hair, Sasuke set his cup down on the nightstand beside them and slid back down underneath the blankets again. Haku smiled at him softly as his fingers continued to play with the Uchiha's black locks. _

_Sasuke didn't know why he was doing this – didn't know why he was letting Haku get so close as the other slid closer, his hand moving from the Uchiha's hair to settle comfortably on the raven's side, holding him loosely to him. All Sasuke knew was that the other's body was so warm against his, his breath so soft on his cheek. The Uchiha wouldn't have liked to have the older boy anywhere else in the world than in that bed. _

_With him. _

_Haku…_

_Slowly, cautiously – using the hand on his side as invitation – he slid closer to the other, slipping almost submissively into Haku's silently offered embrace. _

_He didn't know why he was doing it – why he as letting Haku get so close. _

_All he knew as that it felt right. _

_After a while, Haku's soft, even breathing and fresh, clean scent washing over him, he closed his eyes. _

_A while passed, and Haku opened his eyes to see Sasuke lying contently next to him, eyes closed in serene sleep. _

_He kissed the top of the Uchiha's head very softly. _

"_Sleep, dearheart." _

_Sleep and be loved._

**End Flashback Four – Loved**

**Yes. Short.**

**Yes. Sweet. **

**Yay. Fluff. Thanks Haku. XD**

**Well, school's out now and my inspiration's back in full swing, so expect (hopefully) some more frequent updates from my side!**

**But only if I get some frequent reviews from your side, yeah? Thankies!**

**And we went to VEGAS this weekend! 8D Oh, so hot… literally. It was like, 115 effing degrees out there during the day – OHMYGAWD. **

**And I got a new bird! :D :D His/Her name's Aki! Aki-chan! –heartheartheart- I ish in luff with him. XD**

**(/) her. XD XD XD**

**And you know what I just realized? (Delayed reaction, I **_**KNOW**_**) I'm actually writing two stories at once. XD Wow… I is talented. XD Not really. Well… maybe I am. Whatever you all think. :D**

**Review, yeah? Thank you for all of your support! You all are amazing! –heart- **

**Ja ne! It's so GOOD to be back!**

**DDB**


	9. The Chunnin Exams Begin

**Yo, peoples! :D**

**Yes, yes, I'm well aware of the fact that I haven't uploaded for AGES and you all probably think I'm dead. I know, I know. And I'm very, very sorry. **

**Allow me to explain? Or do you even care?**

**Well, as always, rping has got me addicted. I'm working on a MASSIVE rp in gaiaonline, so if you guys want to friend me and take part in it when it finally opens, my username is **_**LovetoCauseMayhem**_**. I hope to hear from you all. :D**

**And school has just been hectic. Between my Honors classes and Gaia and the theater I don't have the ability to get myself off my butt (or on. O.o) and post something for you guys. I really am a bad authoress. :hits self: **

**So, I am directing a play for the school I'm in – a piece that I wrote that I am very happy with. There are three student directors, and I am the only Junior. The other two are Seniors. I also have more people in my cast then they do, and a more complex set with more light cues. Opening night is January 29****th****, and I am so effing excited! XD **

**Yes, life is a little busy, but I feel I owe it to you guys to at least wish you all a belated Thanksgiving, and a Merry Christmas. :) My apologies – again – for neglecting all of you. Please know that, though I'm not here nearly as often as you'd like me to be or as often as I should be, I really appreciate all of you for keeping faith and checking your emails every day. Thank you so much.**

**Oh, and by the way, in case you all haven't realized it yet, **_**I'M NOT DEAD!!!!!! **_**XD**

**Well, that's it in a nutshell. I hope you all like this next chapter. :3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Five – The Chunnin Exams Begin**

"All right, maggots!" Ibiki barked. "Enough fighting over there in the back! Such violence is strictly forbidden in this part of the exam!"

Sasuke inwardly scoffed.

"Che. Way to ruin our fun…" he breathed, smirking.

Ibiki continued, giving them instructions to go up to the front and take numbers, and to sit in the designated spots. Sasuke was up at the front next to Naruto and Hinata, Inaré was to the far left, near the middle, and Haku was at the far back on the right. Sasuke was in the middle of the group, and Sai was a little up towards the right.

Then Ibiki gave the instructions, and the test began.

There was dead silence.

Sasuke and his teammates seemed to have no trouble with the exam, quickly deciphering the code in the first problem and moving onto the next one. They were the only ones – besides possibly Sakura – who could even come close to understanding the problems.

Which meant cheating was inevitable.

Little by little, teams were eliminated and sent out during the duration of the testing hour.

The Hidden Mist Team – Sasuke and the other two – had finished in the first twenty minutes. But anyone could've been fooled. They were all still writing, their pets lounging with them, but their sharp eyes keen.

Naruto – flipping a bitch over the test and how he couldn't even hope to answer a single problem without cheating – chanced a glance at Sasuke's paper.

Then he realized why Sasuke was still busy.

He was writing back and forth between his teammates.

Ink in another person's handwriting would appear on the back of his paper as if by magic, followed by another. After reading both responses, Sasuke would write back. When the paper filled up, the top would wipe clean to provide more room. It must've been some sort of jutsu.

Noticing that Naruto was watching, Sasuke wrote a short message to his teammates saying that he'd talk to them later and – with a hand infused lightly with Chakra – wiped his paper completely clean.

Thinking he had intruded impolitely, Naruto turned his eyes to his own paper, swallowing.

Suddenly ink leaked through to the front and Naruto, blinking, turned his paper over curiously.

There was writing on the other side.

"_You all right? You seem stressed."_

Sasuke's writing.

Naruto swallowed, his heartbeat picking up for an unknown reason as he began to shakily write back.

"_A little… hey, sorry for jumping on you like that when we first met. I just…" _He swallowed again. _"Confused you with someone else…"_

A question mark appeared on his paper a few moments later.

"_? Someone else? Like who?"_

Naruto gave a small, wry smile.

"_Someone that I lost… four years ago."_

Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared at the words.

_Four years ago._

_NARUTO!_

He forced himself to write calmly, fighting against his fingers' twitching.

"_Someone… four years ago? Someone… that you lost? Who?"_

Naruto sighed.

"_You didn't hear? Sasuke Uchiha. He was… killed during a mission near your village four years ago. He was… a teammate of mine, and very dear to me."_

Sasuke bit the inside of his mouth to keep from letting out a senseless exclamation and pouncing on the blonde, begging for the other to forgive him.

_Control, Terranova, control-_

Fuck. He didn't even call himself by his true last name anymore.

_God-fucking-dammit…_

"_Oh, really? My deepest condolences. I didn't know. Now I understand why you reacted the way you did – I have the same first name he did. Gah, I hate the fact that it was because of my village that he died. Do you know who did it?"_

Thank God it was so much easier to lie on paper.

Naruto gave a mental shrug as he responded, forcing himself not to let his physical appearance portray the grief and rage he felt inside.

"_Yeah. Some ex-Hidden-Mist assassin by the name of Zabuza Momochi. And some kid in a mask around our age. I never got to see his face, or his name. And if I had, I would've remembered it forever."_

But that didn't mean Sasuke couldn't sense that pain.

_Thank God. He doesn't know about Haku._

_**Of course he doesn't, you idiot. If he did he would've flipped a bitch when he heard Haku's name, Goddammit…**_

"_Naruto, I'm… sorry." _He sighed. _"You know, if it means anything, I've lost someone dear to me too."_

Naruto blinked. He knew that it might not've been a good idea, but his curiosity was suddenly afire.

"_Really? Who?"_

Sasuke smiled sadly.

"_He was… a very dear friend of mine. We were the best of friends, I like to think. But I lost him. I was a coward and I was weak, so I lost him. I didn't deserve him. I'm beginning to think I never did."_

Naruto blinked in confusion this time.

"_Wait, what? So he's dead?"_

Sasuke gazed at the paper in deep thought before writing his answer.

"_No, not necessarily, I don't think. I don't think he is." _He smiled. _"Actually, I know he's not. He's alive and well, in some ways more than others. On some levels, I just can't reach him the way I once did. But I'm sure he's alive." _He paused for a moment. _"Just like your friend is, Naruto."_

Naruto looked down at the paper in shock.

"_What do you mean?! He's dead! How can he be still alive?"_

Sasuke smiled.

"_He's alive because you remember him, Naruto. He's alive because he lives in your memory. To your memory, he is a living, breathing person. Not merely a dead body, right? So…" _His smile widened ever so slightly. _"He is still alive. Inside you."_

**_Because he's dead on the outside._**

"_So don't ever forget that, okay? He wouldn't want you to. And…" _He sighed softly. _"I'm sure your friend would be proud of you, Naruto."_

_I am. _

_I always will be._

_Naruto…_

**End Chapter Five – The Chunnin Exams Begin**

**I believe what Sasuke told Naruto. Perhaps, Sasuke can help Naruto… without being really Sasuke. This was such a sweet chapter to write. **

**So there is the new chapter. I sincerely hope you aren't all mad and out for my blood right now, but real life – and gaia, sadly enough, -.- – seem to take precedence in my mind. **

**Dammit. **

**And I also have a myspace now. (.com/xkissofshadowsx) Look me up and send me an add, if you like. :3**

**So, thank you all for reading and – though I probably don't deserve it – reviewing. I love you all so much.**

**I'm going to go tackle my inbox now. **

**With so much love, ja ne!**

**DDB: Alive and Well.**

**For those who still care. **


	10. Flashback Five: Light

**Well, keeping things short, I'm on a road trip, and I rarely get internet, so that gives me time to update everything! :D**

**I hope you like this, you guys!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Five – Light**

"_Ah!"_

_There was a vicious popping sound – one that sounded more like a crack from a pistol – before the young boy collapsed onto the snow-covered ground, quivering from the pain._

"_Dear-heart!"_

"_Brat!"_

_The Tracker ninja took advantage of this distraction to launch a collective attack at the two remaining fighters, kunai whistling through the air as another stood above the boy, seeking to either finish him off of take him captive._

_A majority of the kunai collided with senbons, and the boy struggled to pick himself up, trying to ignore the pain and help – it was his fault that they were being attacked, after all. If he hadn't been so stupid and let himself get caught-_

_The massive blade whistled through the air at the Tracker Ninja, slicing the one towering over the boy in half, making blood splash the otherwise fresh snow. _

_Another swing saw one gashed across the chest, but nothing fatal as they all dodged to the side, circling around. _

"_We need to get out of here!" The eldest of the three roared as the other boy knelt beside the youngest one, pulling him up onto his feet._

"_Understood!" The boy stated, picking the other up and tossing him to the man. _

_The boy whimpered as his broken arm was jostled upon landing, and the man held him against his chest with one hand as he swung his massive sword with the other, lashing out at any Tracker ninja who came near._

"_You know what to do!" He called to the other boy, who landed in the circle of Tracker ninja. _

_He raised his hands, began to make hand-signs._

"_Understood."_

_As mirrors of ice formed out of the snow around the Tracker ninja, the man fled. _

_------_

_He was crying. He was crying and he couldn't stop the tears. _

"_I'm sorry…" he bit out as the man set him down on the couch in the safety of their cottage. "I'm so sorry, Zabuza–"_

"_Shut up, brat," the man told him dryly, taking his arm and surveying it, paying no attention to his own wounds. "You know I hate it when you repeat yourself."_

_The boy swallowed thickly, still crying. Both from the pain and from regret and guilt. He felt like such a child–_

"_Haku's going to be okay, isn't he…?" He murmured, biting into a pillow as Zabuza realigned the bones in his arm with a face of cool indifference. "And, Zabuza, what about yourself…?" He had just noticed the blood that was soaking the man's jacket. "You're hurt…"_

"_And?" Zabuza replied, ultimately dismissing his own wounds as he wrapped up the other's arm. "Those can wait. Broken bones can easily become worse if they're not treated immediately." And then, a little more softly, "And yes. Haku will be fine. Don't worry about him."_

_The boy's crying eased a little; his arm was growing numb, his mind turning blind to the pain. He sniffled a little. _

"_I really am sorry…" he breathed as Zabuza finished wrapping up his arm, tying the ends of the bandages into a knot._

_Zabuza didn't look up at him. His voice was soft, knowing. _

"_I know."_

_Forgiving._

_He ran his hand softly down the wounded arm, gazing at it for a moment before he cleared his throat, pulling the boy's arm into a sling. His voice was a bit harsher now, as if to make up for his moment of sensitivity. _

"_Just don't let it happen again."_

_Gazing up at him, the boy nodded._

"_Okay."_

_Then Zabuza stood, stripped himself of his jacket and shirt even though it was still cold in the cottage, revealing the ugly wounds he had suffered because of the boy's weakness, his lack of thinking._

_It made the boy feel awful._

_Then__, he thought suddenly, __at least I could build him a fire._

_So he stood, stumbling over to the fireplace and kneeling down next to it, piling logs into the fireplace with his one good arm. Behind him, Zabuza paused in cleaning his wounds, instead watching the boy with eyes of mild interest. _

_Swallowing, the boy looked at his one good hand, then back to the fireplace. For the jutsu he wanted to do, he needed both hands._

_Wait, no__. He reminded himself. __Remember the training?_

_Haku had taught him a secret, five months after he was taken beneath their wing. _

"_**Any jutsu can be made with only one hand,"**__ he remembered Haku's voice as the words repeated themselves in his head. __**"It's just a matter of concentration, and a will of iron. Your determination can move mountains, my dear – all you need is one hand to do it with."**_

_He swallowed. _

_One… hand… _

_Slowly, he raised his good arm, held it up. _

_The pain was making his thought process slow – he fought against the urge to sleep. _

_I need… to do this… _

_The way Haku had shielded him came to mind – the way Zabuza had fought for him resurfaced in his memory. _

_For them._

_He swallowed again. _

_Mumbling to himself, he made shaky hand signs with his right hand and, breathing the final word, put all of his will behind his breath-_

_A tiny trickle of flame seeped from behind his lips as his throat grew warm with Chakra, and the logs lit up with warmth and light. _

_Panting a little, he gazed at the fire in front of him._

_Then, slowly, he smiled._

_Zabuza closed his eyes and looked away, continuing to dress his wounds as he felt a smile trying to creep onto his face._

_After a moment – when he was sure he was under control – he turned back to the fire, pausing as he wrapped up his arm. As if just noticing the flames._

"_Hey."_

_The boy turned to look up at him, his eyes wide with anticipation but sparkling a little with satisfaction. Zabuza jerked his chin towards the flames._

"_Did you do that?"_

_The boy paused mid-breath, nodded. Zabuza raised an eyebrow._

"_How?"_

_The boy blushed a little, looked down._

"_I remembered…" he breathed softly. "Haku's… training. That one lesson…"_

_Zabuza nodded as if he just understood. _

"_Ah. With the one-handed jutsu stuff from a couple of months ago?" He asked, walking forward to kneel next to the boy, making him turn his head to keep the man in his sights. He nodded._

"_Yes, that one," he replied, wondering what was going through Zabuza's head as he gazed at the flames. _

_He smirked, raised his uninjured hand, and set it on the boy's shoulder. _

"_Good job, brat," he stated, gazing at the fire. "Good job."_

_The boy gazed up at him, managed a weak smile, then rubbed at his eyes as he felt tears of a different kind rise burn the corners of them. _

_He cleared his throat, fought to keep face as he lowered his arm and stared at the fire, his face one of practiced disinterest. _

"_Thank you," he replied. Zabuza gazed at him, knowing better than to trust what was on the surface. _

_He sat down, raised his hand, and pulled the boy into his chest. _

"_What are we going to do with you?" He asked simply, his arms around the boy as they sat in front of the fire, careful not to jostle the younger's broken arm. _

_The boy, shocked, blinked up at Zabuza for a moment before smiling a little and burying his face in the man's wrapped chest, feeling both the warmth of the fire and of Zabuza's arms rush through him to ease the chill in his heart. _

_Silent, he merely shook his head at the question, making Zabuza smirk a little. _

_A still, calm silence enveloping the cabin, Zabuza turned his head and gazed deeply into the glowing light of the fire. _

_----_

_When Haku returned – a little scratched up and tired with his clothes stained with blood that wasn't his – he returned to a house warm with both fire and the essence of family, and he turned his head in confusion to see Zabuza and the boy still safe in the man's arms. _

_Zabuza raised his eyes, saw Haku, and huffed a little, turning his face away and raising his nose into the air in stubbornness. It made Haku giggle. _

"_Tell me, Zabuza…" he breathed softly as he closed the door, so as not to wake the other child. "Did you think this would happen? This devotion? This softness?"_

_Zabuza scowled, sneering a little. A natural defense. _

"_How should I know?" He replied gruffly. The boy in his arms shifted a little, let out a miniscule whine at the tone, and Haku had to bite down a laugh when he saw Zabuza's features instantly soften to one of concern and just a little bit of guilt as he gazed down at the boy, making sure he hadn't woken him. When the man looked back up to Haku, the older child's eyes were alight with mirth. _

_Silently, he moved, sitting next to the two, running his hands through the other boy's hair. _

"_I know," he breathed, gazing at him. Then his eyes lifted to look at Zabuza. "I didn't either."_

_Then he chuckled a little, leaning back to sit on his ankles next to them. _

"_But be truthful, is it really that surprising?"_

_Zabuza continued to scowl, but then, after a moment, he looked down at simply gazed at the boy in his arms. _

_He was silent for a long, lingering moment._

"_No," he finally replied quietly, thoughtfully. "I suppose it's not."_

_Haku smiled broadly._

"_C'mon," he breathed, setting a hand on Zabuza's shoulder. "Let's get him to bed."_

_They shifted, careful not to wake the boy, and Zabuza picked him up and carried him to the single bedroom. _

_Haku pulled back the sheets, and Zabuza set the child down._

"_You go ahead and sleep with him, Haku," he told the boy, moving to go sleep on the couch. "I'm going-"_

"_To what, sleep on the couch?" Haku replied dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. "C'mon Zabuza, it's been over half a year. I'm sure he wouldn't mind it."_

"_I don't wanna take that risk, Haku," Zabuza replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. "What if he __isn't__ ready? What then?"_

_Haku pursed his lips, shook his head. _

"_Then we'll ask him later," he stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. "When his arm heals."_

_Zabuza, either relieved he got out of it or a little disappointed that he'd have to spend another night on the couch, nodded and turned to the door._

"_G'night Haku," then addressing the sleeping figure, "brat."_

_Haku smiled warmly._

"_Good night, Zabuza."_

_Turning back to the bed, Haku took his hair out of the bun, pulled it into a ponytail. Then he dressed for bed and climbed in next to the other boy._

_Smiling a little, he raised a hand, ran his fingers through the other's hair._

"_Good night…" he breathed, kissing the other on the temple very, very softly. "…Sasuke."_

_Then, closing his eyes, he drifted into sleep. _

_----_

_In the living room, Zabuza remained awake and deep in thought, sitting at the table in front of the fireplace, gazing at the light of the flames until the fire became ember. _

**End Flashback Five – Light**

**Such a cute flashback.**

**Review?**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	11. An Outing

**Hey everybody! Another round of updates! :D**

**I hope you like this one! 3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Six – An Outing**

"And all of you who have stayed have passed! Rest up today, for the Chunnin exam will begin –"

_BOOM!_

"With I, Anko, as your proctor!"

"God Anko, what have I told you about being patient?"

"Oh shut up, Ibiki! All right, listen maggots! Tomorrow the second Chunnin exam will begin! So rest up, eat well, and get lucky, because tomorrow… heh, well…" she grinned. "_I'M _in charge."

Sasuke, Haku, and Inaré glanced at each other incredulously, then simultaneously sighed. They could already tell this new proctor was going to cause a lot of headaches.

Naruto, however, couldn't believe it at all.

"WOOHOO!" He cried, leaping up into the air. "I PASSED!" He turned to his teammates, waving his arms frantically in joy. "WE PASSED!"

Sakura beamed.

"Go us!" She exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up as Sai laughed.

"Yeah," he replied, hand on Sakura's waist. "Good job, everyone!"

Sasuke cleared his throat and stood as Dagina yawned from his feet, having fallen asleep during the last half of the exam.

"Nar-"

Naruto laughed, walking over to his teammates and taking them by the shoulders, cheering loudly.

"Let's go, team-!"

"Hey, Naruto!"

He paused, turned as Sasuke walked up to him, chuckling a little.

"How'd you like to go get some food?" He asked. "You know, get to know each other or something? Know any good Ramen stands around here – I'll treat!"

He knew instantly he might've said the wrong thing as Naruto beamed, inwardly panicking at himself.

_Oh shit Sasuke what the hell were you doing-?!_

"Oh, wow! That's so cool! How'd you know I like Ramen?" He asked. Sasuke chuckled nervously, allowing himself to relax a little.

_Still dense, dense Naruto._

"Oh, you do?" He asked, feigning pleasant surprise as Sai shot daggers at him over Naruto's shoulder. "I had no idea. You just seem like a person who would like Ramen, I suppose…"

Naruto laughed.

"Oh, you bet I do!" He exclaimed, jumping up into the air. "I'd love to! I know just the place!"

Taking Sasuke's hand, he jerked the other ninja forward, between Sakura and Sai, towards the door.

"Let's go!"

Laughing, Sasuke turned his head, caught his teammates' eyes.

He waved.

"I'll see you guys later!" He called as Dagina made as if to follow him out the door, but a snort from the wolf Kaoru stopped her. Inaré exchanged glances with Haku as they leisurely walked out the door. Naruto and Sasuke were already gone, a trail of disturbed dust signaling their departure.

"So you think it's a good idea?" She asked him as the bird on Haku's shoulder – a swallow – flapped her wings and ruffled her feathers, snuggling into his cheek. "Letting him get close again?"

Haku shrugged a little.

"I don't know," he replied as Dagina walked by his side, Kaoru at Inaré's opposite. "Maybe it'll ease his heart a little, maybe he'll break and tell him. Whatever happens…" he turned his head to gaze at Inaré. "We'll be there for him."

Inaré blinked, beamed.

"Of course!"

"Hey!"

They turned to see Sai walk over to them, Sakura trailing hesitantly behind him.

"What's your teammate think he's doing, running off with OURS?" Sai snapped, glaring a little at the other two. "Trying to sabotage our team, are ya?!"

Haku blinked as Inaré turned away, crossing her arms in an attempt to stay calm.

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Haku deadpanned coolly. "Instead of making silly accusations, why don't you try to act civilized and allow interaction between people like a normal person?" He turned, motioned to Inaré. "Let's go, dear."

Inaré turned a little to look over her shoulder at the other two.

Her eyes went to Sakura and she winked at her, smiling.

"I love your hair! Let's hang out sometime, neh Blossom-chan?"

Laughing merrily, she turned and walked away with Haku as Sai clucked his tongue and set his hands on his hips.

"Che – whatever! As if she'd ever want to hang out with someone like you-!"

"Okay, Inaré-chan!" Sai did a backwards facevault as Sakura waved cheerfully at Inaré's back. "Anytime!"

Giggling, Inaré turned a little to wave at Sakura before she and Haku vanished around the corner.

Sai, leaping up, glared at Sakura just as she turned to look at him, grinning from ear to ear. Blinking at the expression on his face, she scowled at him, and walked away.

"Learn to be civilized!" She snapped over her shoulder as she did so. Sai blinked, realized what was going on, and dashed after her.

"Ah! Sakura-chan!"

----

_Ichiraku, huh? _Sasuke thought idly as Naruto led him inside. _Should've known._

"Hey Naruto!"

"Hey old man! What's cookin'?"

"Oh, just your favorite, like always! Who's your friend?"

"A guy from the Chunnin exams! I met him today!"

"Hello! It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, young man! Take a seat Naruto – I'll treat you and your guest shortly!"

"You got it, pops!"

Sasuke and Naruto took at seat at the small stand, sitting side-by-side as they watched the man and his daughter work.

"So you're from the Village Hidden in the Mist, huh?" Naruto asked, eyeing the headband around Sasuke's lithe hips. The other fought from shifting uncomfortably – it looked like the blond was looking somewhere _else_. "I never got to get a good look around Wave Country because of all the training and protecting Tazuna 'n stuff. Is it pretty over there?"

Sasuke shrugged a little.

"Most of the time," he replied, relaxing a little as Naruto's gaze lifted. "There's usually a lot of snow and rain, but there's the occasional sunny day, when all the flowers and trees bloom and stuff. Those days are what make staying there really worth it."

"Here you are!"

The man set down two large bowls of ramen in front of the teens, and Naruto cheered, clapping his hands and loudly saying grace before digging in. Sasuke watched him fondly, chopsticks in hand, simply remembering the days when such an action used to disgust him. How different he was now…

"So, Sasuke…"

He blinked out of his reverie as Naruto looked up from his bowl to him. The blonde's voice grew quieter.

"That guy we were fighting said that kids at the Academy there had to fight and kill other kids so they could become ninja. Is that true?"

Sasuke blinked at him, having heard those stories for Zabuza as well.

But the school _he _knew was very different.

"Well, it used to be," he admitted, nibbling at his ramen. "But they stopped that, I think, ten or twenty years ago, if memory recalls." Blinking, he gazed at the back wall in thought, holding his head in hand. "But nowadays it's not so bad. The competition is still vicious, but there's no killing involved anymore."

"What did YOU have to do to pass the exit exam?" Naruto asked in awe, gazing at him. Sasuke blinked at him and then looked at the daughter in thought. After a moment, she looked over at him, giggled, and waved a little. Sasuke blinked, realized he had been staring at her, and meekly waved back, blushing a little in embarrassment. Then he turned back to Naruto.

"Well, I didn't have to kill anyone," he replied. "There was this big obstacle course, with a bunch of different traps and stuff, and you'd have to use different low-level jutsu to get through it safely. It was kinda tough if you didn't know what to do."

Naruto gazed at him in awe.

"That's so cool!" He exclaimed. "And how did you do?"

Sasuke took a breath, setting down his glass from where he took a drink.

"I passed on my first try," he answered truthfully. "As did my teammates. We were top of our class."

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "No wonder you guys are so strong!" He chuckled sheepishly. "I was bottom of my class."

Sasuke chuckled – he had already known that.

"Well, you passed, right?" He asked. "That's all that counts at that age, I guess. The good thing about being a ninja is that you can't cheat when it comes to a skills-test." He smiled at Naruto. "Besides, I wouldn't have guessed you graduated bottom of your class – really? You seem cleverer than that. Tell me, did your bull-headedness get you through?"

He laughed as Naruto pouted, but then the blonde began to chuckle as well.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied, laughing. "Took me four tries to get through it. I was so busy pulling pranks and being goofy and stuff, I didn't have time for studying."

"Oh, I see," Sasuke replied after he swallowed. "So what about your teammates? How did they do?"

"Well, Sakura was the brainy one of the group," Naruto answered, thinking. "She was near the top too, but only on tests. She kinda lacked in the physical areas. Sai…" he sighed. "I don't know how he did on the tests. He was the replacement after Sasuke died."

The other blinked.

"Ah… your… other teammate?"

"Yeah," he replied, looking down in fond memory. "He was top of our class. The best at everything." Naruto scowled then. "Except for being social. The guy was such a douchebag."

Sasuke had to laugh. That much was true, after all. Naruto looked over at him, then bowed his head, chuckling emptily. It made Sasuke blink.

"What is it?" He asked curiously. Naruto continued to laugh.

"It's… so strange…" he breathed, gazing down at the counter. "It really is. You're so much like him but, at the same time, so different." He sighed, raising his head a little. "It's like he's here, but at the same time… he's not." He shook his head. Sasuke sighed, smiled a little.

"I suppose I can say I know what you mean," he replied. "I have a nostalgic feeling too. Like we've met in a past life."

Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry." Then he realized what he was doing and looked away. "Sorry – I'm going on. I'm sure you don't wanna hear any sob-stories from me. That's not why you wanted to have lunch with me."

Sasuke gazed at the back of Naruto's head, his expression unreadable. In fact, he was fighting back tears.

Swallowing, he rubbed at his eyes, and took a breath.

He laughed a little.

"No, it's not," he admitted, looking down at his own bowl. "But by the way you talk about this guy…" he closed his eyes. "He sounds like he meant a lot to you."

"He does," Naruto replied, continuing to eat. "He does mean a lot to me. But he's dead, so I don't see why I keep thinking about him."

Sasuke wet his lips, tried to control his breathing.

"Well, who knows," he stated, leaning back a little. "Maybe you'll see him in another life."

"Maybe," Naruto responded, draining his bowl of broth before looking over to Sasuke again. "So, that 'past-life' stuff… you believe in reincarnation?"

Sasuke chuckled a little.

"Yeah, I do," he replied as he ate. "I believe that people… can be reborn… into something else. Either for better or for worse." He looked over at Naruto. "I'm sure your friend can't wait to see you again."

"Che, please," Naruto deadpanned, making Sasuke inwardly wince. "I doubt it. He hated me."

Sasuke pursed his lips.

"How are you so sure?" He asked. Naruto looked away.

"He never said it, but God he acted like it," he replied. "Acting all high-and-mighty, wanting to prove I was an idiot with every step he took. I don't know HOW many times he made Sakura cry."

Sasuke, pouting a little, looked away. Yes, he remembered.

He laughed, even though his heart hurt.

"Well, like you said, he was a douchebag," he replied easily, sipping at his broth. "But tell me, did that treatment make you stronger?"

Naruto blinked, thought about it.

"Yeah," he replied after a moment. "It did. It was weird. We were rivals…" he leaned back in his chair, gazed up at the ceiling. "But yet, sometimes, I felt like we were best friends. I didn't know what to think about him."

Sasuke glanced over at him, licked his lips, looked down.

"What about now?" He asked, his heart thumping so loudly in his ribcage he was sure Naruto could hear it. "What do you think about him now?"

Naruto sighed.

"I think…" he breathed softly. "I think…"

He closed his eyes.

"_I think if he were still alive, I would die for him."_

Sasuke's throat closed and he looked away, instantly regretting his curiosity.

"That's…" he managed to breathe. "That's very noble of you, Naruto." He took a deep breath. "And you know what?"

He turned his head to look at Naruto as the blonde looked over at him, and their eyes locked.

Sasuke smiled.

"Something tells me that, whether you believe it or not, your friend would do the exact same thing."

_Because I know I would._

"Now c'mon." He took Naruto by the wrist, and pulled him out of the shop as the man waved them laughingly away. "Let's go find something fun to do!"

_You're my stupid idiot, after all._

**End Chapter Six – An Outing**

**From here it just gets weird. At least to me. xD**

**I need your opinion on something though. I'm thinking that at the end of all of this repost all of the flashbacks as a separate story with normal italics and stuff that I usually do. I might or might not delete the flashbacks here (doing so would mean getting rid of all the lovely reviews! D:) but it was just something I was tossing around.**

**Questions? Comments? Screaming capitalization telling me how great I am? Then review! :D**

**Ja ne!**

**DDB**


	12. Flashback Six: Agony

**Haaaaaaaaai gaaaaaaaais 3**

**Yes, I know, I know. Beat me into submission. :( I know I've been a terrible authoress.**

**But I've been living on my own for at least a year. I have a fabulous boyfriend, and I've finally managed to get all of my stories from my old computer onto an external hard-drive, so now uploading is no longer a problem. :]**

**I'm really sorry you've had to wait so long, my friends. For those of you still here, thank you. It's much appreciated, and I'm so not worth your loyalty. **

**This is the first upload. Hopefully, by the end of the day, there will be another chapter, another flashback and then another chapter. Fingers crossed, but no promises!**

**I love you all!**

**Flashback Six - Agony**

_They were being chased. Again. Sasuke was growing tired of this. They had been running for three days already, and their assailants were still in hot pursuit. _

_Zabuza, Haku, and Sasuke hadn't rested for what seemed like days. The snow never stopped falling, and the sun's rays barely penetrated the clouds. _

_He couldn't get his mind off how __tired__ he was. _

_Leaping from branch to icy branch, Sasuke was between Zabuza and Haku, the former in front and the later bringing up the rear. _

_"We should stay and fight," he muttered to himself. "This is cowardly - running away."_

_"We might just have to stay and fight," Zabuza called over his shoulder, as if he had heard Sasuke's complaint. "It's obvious they're familiar with my style. These guys are different from the others."_

_Sasuke smiled._

_"Yes. Finally."_

_It had been over a year since Sasuke had been with them. In a year he had become stronger, faster, and to the outside, even colder._

_But Haku knew better. Zabuza knew better. That playful, warm spirit that had been locked away after the massacre was - in this snowy, chilly land - peeking out from under the lid of the treasure chest where it had been put away, looking up curiously into the outside world. Little flakes of snow drifted in through the cracks onto its cheeks, making it giggle, and push against the top even more with its tiny, frail arms. But it wouldn't be able to get out by itself._

_Haku knew that soon enough, either he or Zabuza would be given the key to open that chest, and free that tiny little sun._

_It was just a matter of time. _

_Zabuza leaped from the branch, but instead of going to the next one, fell through the branches to the snowy floor._

_"Here. We make our stand here." _

_Sasuke and Haku dropped down next to him, clothed heavily in warm robes and cloaks with just their eyes visible. _

_"Well, what's the game plan?" Sasuke asked. "They'll be here any minute."_

_"Stay together," Zabuza replied. "I'll vanish up into the trees. You two know the rest."_

_Sasuke nodded, and Haku merely smiled. The elder boy looked over to the child, who wasn't even in his teens yet. _

_"Ready, my dearheart?"_

_Sasuke's eyes scowled a little._

_"Stop calling me that." But Haku could see the warmth of pleasure behind that ice. _

_"Haha, okay."_

_Chakra from behind them pulled them into the world._

_"Here they come!"_

_There were three assailants. All from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Sasuke and Haku could feel them lift up into the trees and vanish into the snow flurries._

_Sight was barely helpful. Hearing and smell were useless. All they could do was __**feel**__. _

_So Sasuke closed his eyes and reached out. He felt the adrenaline start to pump as the excitement heightened. _

_This is it. This is what I was made for._

_His eyes snapped open._

_Yes!_

_One of the assailants landed._

_Immediately, Haku trapped him in mirrors, leaving Sasuke's side as the Uchiha leaped away, darting through the trees and drawing the attention of the other two._

_The plan was perfect. Separate them one by one, and let either Haku or Zabuza pick them off from the safety of the trees. Sasuke was light, fast, and small. He would serve as an excellent decoy. And he had. For the past year, he had been luring hunters into traps of agony and death. _

_It had occurred to him once to let Zabuza and Haku be captured. To let them die and demand to be taken back to the place of his birth. Konoha. They deserved it, didn't they? For kidnapping him? For hurting him? For taking away everything he ever knew?_

_But then Haku had handed him a cup of spiked tea with a little smile, and Zabuza had come back from the hunt successful, with a pregnant boar in his massive hand. They had eaten well that night, and as Sasuke fell asleep, he could feel Haku put a blanket on him, and carefully tuck him in with the utmost of gentle hands. _

_Then Sasuke had realized. Who would WANT to turn these two in? Haku, with his soft hands and soothing voice, or Zabuza, with his rough but keen sense and firm belief in hard work? Who would want these two dead? These two classic examples of absolute human beings? It was... a sad thought. That they were hunted only because they desired the freedom to live life as they chose._

_And that Zabuza was a murdering, pillaging delinquent, but who was paying attention to that?_

_Smiling, Sasuke had fallen asleep. _

_These two were his new family. _

_"Sasuke!"_

_Then it went horribly, horribly wrong._

_The young Uchiha suddenly became aware of burning, chilling agony as needles of ice all but shredded him in a rain of arrows, the assailant he was leading away somehow having the good sense to set a trap beforehand._

_Oh._

_He had to smile grimly._

_What had always been Zabuza's one rule during training? __**Pay attention.**_

_Yeah. Should probably do that._

_Sasuke could feel himself falling to the ground, and then a strong, angry arm caught him across the waist, pulling him up to a stronger chest. Sasuke really, REALLY hoped it was Zabuza coming to save the day again, but he was not so lucky. A kunai was held close to his throat, and then suddenly the Uchiha became aware of the powerful, __burning__ pain._

_He let out a yell of agony. Something high-pitched and gutteral and angry and __ohGodpleasehelpme-_

_"I have the boy!"_

_Fuck._

**End Flashback Six - Agony**

**Thank you for sticking with my, guys. :]**

**Again, loves!**

**DDB  
**


	13. The Hot Spring

**Here we are. :)**

**Also, the 3 on the last page was supposed to be an emoticon heart. Apparently doesn't register that though. **

**Another chapter. Warning: this is where the story gets kinda weird.  
**

**Promises Not Made Are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Seven – The Hot Spring**

"Gah, Naruto!"

Sasuke laughed and yelped at the same time as he was splashed, his hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"Don't be such a girl!" The blonde replied, laughing loudly as he chased Sasuke around the shallows. "C'mon – you're SURROUNDED by water where you live and I'm in deeper than you are! Get in here!"

It was a few hours after the noon mark now – Naruto had led Sasuke to the river where he had insisted they swim. They were both stripped to their boxers – Naruto's skin shockingly dark compared to Sasuke's – but Sasuke had yet to enter the water, instead wadding around where the river only reached up to his ankles. Naruto, being impatient, had begun to chase Sasuke around and splash him, trying to get him into deeper water.

"Nuuuuu!" Sasuke cried childishly, a grin on his face. "Stop! It's too cold!"

"Too cold?" Naruto demanded, splashing Sasuke heatedly again. "You're from _The Village Hidden in the Mist_! Don't TELL me it's too cold!"

Sasuke giggled.

"I can't help it!" He replied, hugging himself. "The ramen made me all warm and cozy inside! Let's just go to a hot spring or something!"

In truth, he didn't want Naruto to see what happened to him when he became immersed in cold water.

"Where's the fun in hot springs?" Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke blinked. HE could think of plenty of things one could do in a hot spring.

Pretty much all of which were morally questionable.

But personally, he liked them.

He doubted Naruto would think along those lines though.

_He's still such a child…_

Then again, fourteen wasn't that old in the first place, and even though Naruto was older than him by a couple of years, he doubted the blonde had any experience with _that_ certain subject.

"I'm sure we could find something," he replied, his mind somewhere else entirely as he gazed at Naruto, soaking in the other's physique.

He had to be truthful – he wouldn't mind doing things with Naruto. The boy's body had grown, matured into something strong and firm.

_I'd tap that._

The thought made Sasuke giggle a little. Then he wondered if the blonde had done anything with that _Sai _character.

It made him scowl.

_He better have not._

Then he wondered if the blonde still had a crush on Sakura.

"-ke… SASUKE!"

He blinked, looked up at Naruto, who had apparently been trying to get his attention for some time.

"Yes?"

Naruto scowled at him.

"I was telling you that yes, we could go to the hot spring, IF you agree to try something with me first."

Sasuke blinked, his mind still in the gutter.

"Try… something…?" He shrugged. "All right."

"I can't believe this is what you meant."

Naruto glared at him.

"Oh shut up! You can't tell me you're not interested."

Sasuke gazed at him blankly, with just a little bit of impatience.

"Well, I admit, I AM bisexual, but who needs to do something like THIS when you've got a chick like Inaré on your team?"

Naruto stared at him – suddenly in awe.

"You mean you've DONE stuff with her?"

Sasuke blinked, blushed a little.

"Uh, well, yeah," he admitted, stammering. Naruto stared at him.

There was tense silence between them for a moment, then Naruto looked away to gaze at their target.

"Lucky," he muttered, making Sasuke mentally sigh in relief. "I would do ANYTHING to able to feel those things!"

Sasuke blinked.

"What, her boobs?" He asked bluntly. Naruto's blush deepened.

"Yeah…"

Sasuke had to fight against a laugh. The irony of it all – Naruto was two years older than him, but he had a countless amount of experience over the blonde.

It was too funny.

"They're not such a big deal," he replied, shrugging. "We both agree boobs are for nothing useful except to look good in a shirt and to make really nice pillows."

_And toys, but that's for another conversation. _Sasuke added mentally. Then he thought of something.

"But wait, what about that Sakura chick?" He asked the blonde next to him. Naruto shrugged.

"What about her?"

"Well, don't you have the hots for her or something?" He asked. The blonde blinked.

"I used to, but no, not anymore, I think. She's still a great friend and teammate, but I don't see her like that anymore. I haven't for a few years."

Sasuke 'oh'ed, and nodded, a little relieved. Naruto looked at him.

"So, are you ready?" He asked the raven. Sasuke gazed at him, scowling a little.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," he replied. "Let's just get this over with. But, for God's sake – change out of that stupid jumpsuit!"

"Don't make fun of my jumpsuit-!"

"Can we just get this over with?"

Two plumes of smoke resulted and – after forcing Naruto to change into something else – they were ready.

As older, teenage women, Sasuke and Naruto strode into the female hot spring, Sasuke rolling his – now her – eyes and Naruto grinning from ear to ear.

It worked surprisingly well. Sasuke had been right to make Naruto take off the jumpsuit.

"This is stupid."

"Why?"

"Because. It's not like anything interesting is happening."

"Don't be like that."

"I WILL be like that! Can't we just go over to the other one? Unlike you, who apparently has some _experience_ with this sort of thing, I am NOT comfortable!"

"Awe, why…?"

As a female, Sasuke blinked from where they lounged in a pool of steaming water, towels wrapped around their torsos as Naruto rested against a rock and Sasuke sat on the edge next to her, only her legs in the water.

They had managed to get in easily, passing off as twins with different hair colors – Sasuke had pulled Naruto's hair into a ponytail as well before they had entered.

The hot spring was relatively empty save for a few girls, and even they were talking about leaving soon.

Sasuke scowled.

"Did you think there was going to be a massive lesbian orgy or something?" She snapped quietly, irritably, to the blonde as the last of the women left. Naruto glared and looked away, and Sasuke rolled her eyes. "You DID, didn't you-?"

"Shut up!"

"Ugh."

Shaking her head, Sasuke slid a hand across her forehead, sighed.

"Idi-"

Her sharp hearing caught something moving behind the fence and she stilled, listening.

She grinned.

"Well well well…" she breathed, smirking and making Naruto give her a strange look. She shifted to move closer to the center of the spring, in front of Naruto. "Looks like you're not the only one who likes to eye women."

Naruto blinked.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Sasuke looked over at the blonde, smirked. Whoever it was lingered behind the fence at Naruto's back.

Reaching up, Sasuke took her towel in one hand.

"Should I?"

Naruto's eyes went wide, and she blushed widely.

"Oh God, what're you doing?"

"Take off your towel," Sasuke ordered, her eyes twinkling in mirth. "C'mon – you know you wanna…"

The blonde swallowed, moving away from Sasuke.

"What… what're you doing…?"

Sasuke giggled, and the grip loosened.

"C'mon…"

A mischievous part of him now in control, Sasuke wadded over to her.

"Awe, now c'mon _sister_…" she breathed, smirking. Reaching up, she slid her feminine fingers across Naruto's jaw line. "Where's your sense of fun? C'mon – there's no one else, we're all _alone_ – give in to your naughty side…"

Like a completely different person, Sasuke moved to straddle Naruto, naked beneath the towel and said towel pushed up to her hips.

Naruto was beat red by this time.

"N-no – stop!" She stammered as Sasuke's hands moved, nails scratching skin, fingers sliding beneath cloth. "Stop – what're you doing?"

"I'm doing what you want me to do…" Sasuke breathed, his eyes flashing. "Now c'mon – take off your silly little towel. Let's have _fun_."

The last word was breathed hotly into Naruto's ear, teeth nibbling on the lob, fingers trailing.

Naruto swallowed.

"S-sasuke…" he choked out, frozen beneath the other. "S-stop…"

"Why?" The raven breathed, gazing down at him. "This is what you want, isn't it? Why fight it?" His eyes flashed again. "Give IN."

One hand's fingers went to Naruto's throat, the other to her towel.

"I know you want to."

She yanked off Naruto's towel just as their lips locked, pressing their bodies together though they were still separated by Sasuke's own cloth, tossing it somewhere into the water.

"C'mon, Naruto…" she breathed into his lips, the other unresponsive beneath her. _"Touch me."_

That order seemed to knock some sense into the blonde, and she leaped up, knocking Sasuke away.

"This is…" she stammered, yanking her towel to her, covering herself. "This is madness!"

Turning, she leaped out of the spring and dashed into the building, leaving Sasuke by herself.

Blinking, she stood up in the center of the water, her mind blank with shock.

What on earth had just happened?

Then she sneaked a peak beneath her towel, and gasped.

"Oh God…" she breathed. "Oh God, oh God…"

She turned as well, and fled.

The person that had been watching them had seen what they wanted to see, yes.

But not in the way Sasuke had thought.

**End Chapter Seven – The Hot Spring**

**Yes, yes, I know. The story just kinda ran away from me at this point.**

Don't worry; the next chapter's even weirder.

But first! To write up a flashback...

Thank you. All of you. You all are lovely.

Love you guys!

DDB


	14. Flashback Seven: Flame

**You have no idea how long I've wanted to write this flashback. :)**

**Also, if you're a fan of my Love of Ancient Kings series, I have posted a new part. :D Part four is Shocking Realities. I would really love it if you all went and checked it out. :D**

**But I think this is probably one of my favorite flashbacks. Enjoy!  
**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Seven - Flame**

_Red spots dotted the ground, sinking into the freshly fallen snow and melting it on impact before the temperatures froze the red itself, the falling snow then covering the red spots, leaving no trace._

_The body the red fell from was getting colder. It terrified him, and he hoped that there would be a divine moment soon where warmth of a living, breathing body enveloped him, forcing the will to live back into his form._

_He had failed. There was nothing left for him now. _

_Except to fight on._

_**"I have the boy!"**_

_Fuck._

_The tracker ninja held Sasuke close, like a lifeline, holding the kunai to his throat as Sasuke could only stand there and watch the events unfold. _

_In the attempt to save him, Zabuza had been captured, and he had been stripped of his warm cloak and forced onto his knees, bloody and shivering in the cold. Haku was free, but he could do nothing except wait for the opportune moment to strike._

_But until either Zabuza or Sasuke freed themselves, that moment would not arise very soon. _

_"NO!" Sasuke screamed, fighting against his captor. The man held him back gruffly, having stripped the training ninja of all weaponry. All Sasuke had left was his Jutsu, and the instant either remaining assailant sensed his Chakra they would kill both him and Zabuza._

_But God, they were dead anyway. _

_"ZABUZA!" _

_"Zabuza Momochi!" The assailant who had Zabuza to his knees call above the shrieking wind. He held a sharp blade in his hands, one designed for execution. "You are charged with crimes of treachery, pillaging, crimes against humanity, manslaughter, and first degree murder. Therefore, by order of the Mizukage, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Mist, I hereby sentence you, with the Gods as my witnesses-"_

_Sasuke couldn't believe it. _

_"NO!"_

_"To death by execution."_

_Sasuke could feel the tears pouring down his face, stinging his eyes as they fell and searing his cheeks as they froze mid-fall, the wind so chilled it burned. _

_"NO!"__ He screamed, viciously fighting and clawing at his captor. The kunai cut his throat, he could feel the sting, but he didn't care. His entire body ached and moaned, but he __didn't fucking care__. __"I'll save you Zabuza! I'll save you!"_

_Zabuza laughed grimly._

_"You stupid brat," he muttered, one eye swollen shut, left arm broken, right arm stabbed multiple times, ankle broken, and two very, very deep slash marks across his back. Some of his intestines hung out through a gash in his belly, and he couldn't even move his arms to hold them in. "You can't do anything. You're the reason for this, and you can't save me." _

_He turned his head slightly to look at Sasuke through his one good eye as the assailant pushed the bandages out of the way to gain access to Zabuza's neck. _

_"After all, you can't even save yourself." _

_The next words broke Sasuke's soul as Zabuza's head was pushed down, his nose facing the icy earth. _

_"I hope you die out here."_

_The tears hurt so much a part of Sasuke wondered if he was crying blood. _

_"NO!"_

_He saw his family again. Their heads, at his feet. Their blood on his hands, again. Always, again. He saw Haku's head, and then Zabuza's. It was happening. It was happening all over again. And again, he was helpless to stop it. He couldn't save them, he couldn't even save his own fucking tortured, bloody soul-_

_Why did he even become a ninja? To fail at saving people __**again **__when this time he knew how? He would always be helpless, no matter how perfect he strove to be, no matter how hard he trained-_

_"NO!"__ Sasuked closed his eyes in rage at himself as the tracker ninja lifted up the blade, weeping in shame. __You're right, Zabuza. You're right. You've always been right._

_I don't deserve to live._

_His eyes snapped open._

_But you do._

_"I WON'T LET YOU DIE!"_

_Then everything happened all at once. _

_Fire so hot encompassed the ninja with the sword in a flaming bloom, turning the sword red hot even as it fell to the snow and melting the ice down to scorched earth. The ninja caught in it screamed at he was burned alive, skin erupting in blisters and boils that popped and regrew upon themselves, being scorched so quickly he didn't even have time to defend himself. _

_The sword fell to sink into the earth behind Zabuza, and the heat behind him was so intense he could feel the cuts on his back stop bleeding as the bloodways were seared closed, his skin of his back and arms erupting in burns. The sword fell, sinking into the earth behind him, still red. The body of the ninja fell soon after, a saddening lump of scorched flesh and charred bone. _

_Seconds later, another body - the body of the third and final assailant - fell as well, holes in his eyes where the needles had vanished. They were stuck in his brain, and he fell, lifeless, to the snow. _

_Eyes wide, Zabuza turned and looked around back at Sasuke, back to where the amazing burst of Chakra had been felt less than a moment before the stream of explosive flame. The wind blew away the smell of burnt hair and seared flesh. _

_Sasuke stood, hand outstretched in front of his mouth from where he had willed the flame to life, still staring at the spot the other ninja (when he was alive) once stood. His mouth, then open as if he were blowing a kiss, was now closed, and the entire mask of his robes was gone, burned away by the flaming power of his Chakra. _

_But that wasn't what Zabuza was looking at. He was looking at the boy's eyes._

_They were red like blood. And they were alive._

_"My God..."_

**End Flashback Seven - Flame**

**See? SEE?**

**I love it. :D**

**But again, if you desire to check out the above story mentioned, feel free too! :3**

**I hope you all liked this flashback! And pardon if there are any mistakes. I just wrote it and was a little too eager to share it with you.**

**So much love,**

**DDB  
**


	15. Beneath the Moonlight

**So here's the next chapter. Again, just gets weirder and weirder. But you'll understand when the time comes.**

**Don't you hate it when parents tell you that? :P  
**

**But the next step of the Chunin Exams starts tomorrow! :D Excited? I am!  
**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Eight – Beneath the Moonlight**

When Haku stepped into the apartment his team had been given, he found himself being assaulted by a warm body with frantic fingers and panicked lips, the door slamming closed as Haku was forced against it.

Though it was enjoyable, Haku was incredibly confused. At the first instant he could, he broke the contact and spoke.

"Sasuke, what is it-?"

"Where's Inaré, Haku?" The other deadpanned, not looking at him. Haku blinked.

"She found a gal pal to spend the night with," he replied, still confused. "Why-?"

"And Z?"

"He should be coming soon enough. Had to speak to the village's leader, he told me."

Sasuke swallowed.

"The Hokage…" he breathed thickly. His grip on Haku tightened. "Haku, I need you…" he breathed, making the other's eyes widen. "_All _of you."

Haku's face went cold.

"Sasuke – what happened-?"

"_Sasuke_."

Weakly, he turned his head to look over his shoulder, his entire body shaking.

"Za…" he breathed weakly. "Bu… za…"

The wanted ninja stepped forward, but he wasn't wanted anymore.

His hair was a little longer, pulled back in a short ponytail with choppy bangs ruffling his forehead. His mouth was still covered, but instead of bandages, a long dark blue scarf wrapped around his mouth and neck, stretching downwards towards his navel. A single hoop earring pierced his right lobe.

He wore a muscle shirt with camouflage print, which was tucked into beige cargo pants, which in turn were wrapped down at the ankle with bandages. The sandals remained unchanged, and a belt was visible at his waist.

However, he no longer had his sword with him. Apparently, he hadn't been allowed to bring it with him into Konoha, due to the fact people would recognize it in an instant.

So, grudgingly, he had come without his favorite weapon.

But that wasn't the issue at the moment.

"Sasuke," Zabuza repeated again, nearing the two boys. "What happened? What did you do?"

"I…" Sasuke stammered, Haku's arms wrapping around him tightly as his trembling intensified. "I… I…" He swallowed, dug the side of his face into Haku's chest. "I… Me and Naruto… went to the hot spring, and…" he swallowed. "I don't know what came over me – I started acting…" he struggled to find the right word for it. "_Strange_…"

Haku rubbed his back reassuringly.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad, Sasuke," he breathed. The other shook his head violently.

"No! It was!" He whimpered quietly, clutching at the other's clothes. "Fuck Haku – I almost _raped _him-!"

Haku's eyes widened as Zabuza sighed.

"Just great," he muttered, cracking his neck. "This again. Well, seems as if you've misbehaved, Sasuke." With one smooth motion, he undid his belt and took it off, stretching it a little bit in front of him with both hands. "I suppose you'll have to be punished."

Sasuke was close to crying now, holding onto Haku tightly. The other teen's eyes widened.

"Zabuza! The-!"

He didn't get to finish – Zabuza had taken Sasuke by the scruff of the neck and heaved him onto one of the beds, making the bed slam into the wall when the ninja collided with it. There was a solid crack as the back of Sasuke's head crashed into the headrest.

Zabuza was on top of him, straddling him with one large hand clear across the width of the boy's chest, and – clenching his fingers – tore the shirt off.

Baby blue light filled the room. Haku's eyes widened from where he stood next to the bed.

"Sasuke-!"

"Please!" Sasuke begged, cold sweat beading on his forehead and sliding down his face as his eyes glistened and chest heaved. "Please – make it stop!"

Zabuza grinned, looping the belt around his neck and tightening it. Sasuke made a faint choking sound, and reached up to take hold of the leather, but the older male slapped his hand aside.

"Oh, you have nothing to fear, Sasuke…" he breathed, almost in glee, as he made quick work of Sasuke's pants, flinging them to the side. The raven lay motionless beneath him as Zabuza began to strip, the elder motioning for Haku to do the same. "I'll slam it out of there so fast it'll think twice about coming back up."

Sasuke whimpered as Haku sat behind him, pulling the boy halfway into his lap and wrapping his teammate in his arms.

"Thank God Inaré's not here…" he breathed quietly. "I think she'd panic."

Sasuke swallowed.

"Inaré…" he breathed weakly as his entire body shook. He didn't even feel it at first when Zabuza began, nails scratching at his chest and sides and heartbeat pounding behind his eyes. The belt tightened so much at points he couldn't breathe. "Inaré…"

* * *

"Inaré?"

She turned from where she gazed out the window to look at the bed.

"Inaré, what's up? Not tired yet?"

She smirked.

"No, not that." She looked back to the window, gazing out at the city. "Just thinking."

"Well stop that!" There was a giggle from the bed. "Stop thinking, and come over here! The night's still young!"

Inaré smiled a little wryly as she gazed outwards.

_Sasuke…_

"Yeah." She turned from the window, and suddenly pounced upon the figure in the bed, giggling immediately erupting from both forms. "Are you ready?"

_Take care of him, you guys._

* * *

Naruto sat atop the roof of his apartment building, staring at the city, but not really seeing it.

He sat there, deep in thought, with his fingers gently touching his lips.

_Sasuke…_

Above all of them, the moon shone.

**End Chapter Eight – Beneath the Moonlight**

**Who else thinks belts are sexy? Yeaaaaaaaah. ;D**

**And to answer all of your thoughts, YES, Sasuke will have bruises for this later. *fangirls squeal in the background* Oh yes. Oh yes.**

**Now if you excuse me, I have to go attack my boyfriend now. :)**

**Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! *heart*  
**

**So much love,**

**DDB  
**


	16. Flashback Eight: Adore

**The flashbacks of this story just keep getting fluffier and fluffier. I love it. *heart***

**Also, shameless advertising here, but I wrote another one shot called Machine Gun. It's pretty awesome. It's centered around Sasuke (of course) so please feel free to go read and review! :3**

**In the meantime, enjoy this update!  
**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Eight - Adore**

_"That was..."_

_Zabuza was patched up, healed as best as Haku could manage, and was carted off to the makeshift cabin they called home. There were a lot of these forgotten houses in the Land of Water. _

_"That was..."_

_Zabuza was put into bed, doctored on some more, and when he had recovered enough to sit up straight Haku fed him a warm soup that he and Sasuke had put together while the older man had slept, feeding him spoonful by spoonful. Sasuke was asleep on the floor, tuckered out._

_"That was..."_

_And they couldn't stop talking about it._

_"That was amazing." _

_Haku smiled as Zabuza spoke, his voice gruff. _

_"I have been repeating that to myself ever since it happened," Haku replied, continuing to feed Zabuza, seeing as how the man still couldn't lift his arms. "It was incredible. You were right to take him on, Zabuza. He's wonderful."_

_"That was the Sharingan, Haku," Zabuza stated, not listening. Haku shook his head pleasantly. "That was the Sharingan. His bloodline. Do you realize how much more valuable he just became to us? How much more of an asset?"_

_Haku was quiet for a moment. Then, putting down the bowl, he sat on the bed next to Zabuza. _

_"Zabuza, I've been meaning to ask you," he began. "Do you think this life is good for him? Do you think we can teach him all he needs to know about life, about living, about being a ninja? Do you think we can do that for him?"_

_Zabuza gave him a 'watch-yourself' stare - one that Haku knew all too well. _

_"What are you getting at, Haku?"_

_The boy sighed._

_"I don't like the fact that we basically forced him to become a fugitive of his own country a year ago," he finally stated, coming out with the one thing that was bothering him this entire time. "I adore the boy, make no mistake. I'm so, so happy we have him. But constantly running and constantly living in fear is not what he needs."_

_"And being abandoned __**also **__isn't what he needs, Haku," Zabuza snapped, disliking the conversation entirely. "I don't regret my decision to bring him along. Despite all the fucking pain he's caused us-"_

_"You adore him too, don't you Zabuza?"_

_He huffed._

_"Me? Adore? I don't know the meaning of the word, Haku."_

_The boy's eyes shown knowingly. _

_"Yes, yes you do. And this is why we need to have this discussion. Zabuza, he needs to go to a real school, with a real sensei and a real team to train with. With that Sharingan he'll know what we're doing before we do, soon enough. We won't be any match, and what good will that do for him?"_

_Zabuza seethed. He seethed, but he saw the sense in Haku's statement. _

_"When that time comes, we'll deal with it then," he said dismissively. "Besides, what would you suggest we do? Go back to the Village Hidden in the Mist?"_

_Haku was firm._

_"Yes."_

_"WHAT?"_

_Zabuza knocked the empty bowl down to the floor, and Haku managed to catch it before it struck and broken, potentially waking Sasuke. _

_"Haku, are you insane? They'll kill us!"_

_"I'll go in and see if we can make some sort of deal," Haku pressed on. "We would be giving them the loyalty of an __**Uchiha**__! A Sharingan-user! The Sharingan could have a chance to take root in the Village Hidden in the Mist! Do you realize how valuable that might be to the Mizukage? If he's at all smart-"_

_"He's not."_

_"Even so! His advisors will be. THEY will see the sense in it. Zabuza, I'm sure. Maybe not now, maybe not even a YEAR from now, but we can do it. We can give Sasuke a __**life**__. The life we took away!" His voice softened. "Please..."_

_Zabuza gave him an amazingly blank face, the bowl sitting on the table next to him again._

_"I don't like this, Haku," he stated. "I don't like this at all."_

_"I don't either, Zabuza," Haku revealed. "You're selfish, I'm selfish - we're both selfish when it comes to that boy. We want him all to ourselves - I know. I've thought of that too." He smiled. "But he's a boy. And he will grow into a man. Soon we won't be enough for him, and we'll need to prepare ourselves for that. Besides, Zabuza..." his eyes were sad as he gazed at his teacher, his father, his closest companion. "I'm tired of running. I will continue to do it for as long as we need to, but I'm tired of it. I'm sick of it. I want to be able to wake up without worrying about being hunted. And I want the same for Sasuke. I want the same for you."_

_Zabuza sighed, and jerked his head a little bit. Smiling, Haku leaned forward to touch foreheads with Zabuza for a moment._

_"Ah... okay," Zabuza said as Haku pulled back to sit up straight. "We'll see how good he gets and how fast. If he does like you say, I'll consider it. If not..." his eyes hardened. "We'll keep running. Until we die."_

_Haku nodded. It wasn't the best, but it was definitely better than nothing._

_And with Zabuza, that was a start. _

_"Okay." He stood, straightening his clothing. "If it's okay with you, Zabuza, I wish to be with Sasuke, and let you sleep well tonight."_

_Again, something that Zabuza didn't particularly enjoy, but again, he saw the sense in it. Recovery could only happen with sleep._

_"All right, Haku. Sleep well."_

_"You as well, Zabuza."_

_Exiting into the small main room, he walked over to the bed he had made for Sasuke, who was curled up tightly in a little ball. Smiling, he slid into the bed behind the boy and curled up next to him, wrapping his arms around the Uchiha's waist. _

_The movement awoke Sasuke, and he blearily turned over to face Haku, blinking in sleep._

_"Ah... Haku? What is it?" _

_Haku smiled at him._

_"Nothing at all, dearheart." He planted a kiss on Sasuke's forehead. "Please go back to sleep."_

_Obediently, Sasuke closed his eyes, and Haku brushed some hair from the boy's face as he watched the younger boy's breath lull back into sleep. He kissed the boy on the forehead again, breathing softly-_

_"I adore you."_

**End Flashback Eight - Adore**

**Isn't it cyuuuuuute? *heart***

**I really, really adore this fic. It's just so lovely. **

**Do you think so too? Let me know! I love talking to you lovely reviewers! :3**

**But again, Machine Gun. It's pretty awesome, and it's not too long. Please go read!**

**So much love,**

**DDB  
**


	17. The Second Exam (Lingers)

**Greetings! :D**

**So the second Chunin exam is set to begin! For those of you who don't remember the basis of the second exam, I'm sorry. Go to naruto . wikia to refresh yourself.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Nine: The Second Exam (Lingers)**

It was the morning after, and the Chunin-hopefuls were gathered around the large walled forest that would be the mother of the second exam. Naruto was part of the lingering, scattered crowds, nervously waiting and barely able to hide it.

"Naruto!"

Soon enough, Sai and Sakura appeared beside him, and together as a team they waited for Anko to appear.

As they stood there, Naruto lingered deep in thought, his lips slightly pursed.

_What was that yesterday? _He asked himself, feeling his knees tingle for some reason as he remembered the hot spring. _Why… did he do that? And why… _his eyes narrowed. _Why didn't I freak out as badly as I thought I would?_

"Naruto!"

Hearing the voice, he raised his head. Waving sheepishly at him, Sasuke walked over, a baby blue scarf wrapped around his neck and his hair pulled up in a tight, high ponytail. Naruto's heart jumped a hurdle and took a dive all at once.

"Oh… hey Sasuke," he greeted nervously, returning the smile. "How're you doing? How'd you sleep?"

"Eh, I've had better nights," Sasuke admitted with a shrug. "Anyway…" he looked at Naruto with pursed lips. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean for that to happen, and I feel really bad about it. Maybe we could… try again later on today? I mean, if you're okay with it?"

Naruto could only blink at him and smile.

"I'd… really like that," he replied honestly. "That would actually be pretty awesome."

The entire aura of anxiousness that plagued Sasuke immediately melted away, and he laughed in relief, clapping his hands.

"Wonderful!" He cooed. "That's so exciting!" As he spoke, the little bird that had sat upon Haku's shoulder the day before fluttered through the air around his head, pleasantly chirping. Smiling brightly, Sasuke looked up at the bird and reached up to poke at it playfully. "Okay Moira, you got it. I'll head over." Turning back to Naruto, he smiled brightly. "Well, looking forward to it!" Waving at team seven, he turned and began to walk away, the little bird cheerfully spiraling around him. "Good luck today guys!"

Looking considerably happier than before, Sasuke trotted off to his teammates. Feeling satisfied and straightly like he was floating, Naruto watched him go with a smile on his face.

"Yeah," he breathed. "You too."

With that, the Chunin exams began. Naruto's team was given an Earth scroll, while Sasuke's team was given a Heaven scroll.

"Five days in this forest…" Inaré breathed, looking around as they were released into the zone. Other teams raced away deep into the massive trees (team seven included), but Sasuke's took their time venturing in, absorbing the surrounding foliage and drinking in the almost-sinister ambiance of the training grounds. "This is going to be a pain."

"Nothing we haven't done before," Haku breathed softly, the sentence oozing confidence worthy of being spoken. Moira, his bird, settled onto his shoulder, looking around with his big black eyes. Inaré's companion, Kaoru, lingered near her side, sniffing the air in distrust, while Dagina wandered around the clearing in careful curiosity, constantly addressing the scents in the air as her massive bulk shifted and rolled beneath her thick fur.

"Well said, Haku," Sasuke stated simply, adjusting the scarf around his neck. "I suggest we get the other scroll as quickly as possible. Then make a camp and then chill for the next four days. I have a book that I've been meaning to finish."

"Who do you think we should go for?" Inaré asked him.

"I don't feel like putting forth too much effort," Sasuke replied as Haku smiled faintly and nodded a little as he listened, his eyes closed. "Some bullshit team. Keep it easy. We'll have to save our energy for the third round. And that means not giving away all our secrets in one go."

"So it's true then?" Inaré quipped in interest. "The last round of the exams is a tournament?"

"From what Z has told me, yeah," Sasuke answered. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Not at all, with you on our side," she teased, bumping hips playfully with him. It was then Sasuke's eyes went to Haku, who had been silent the entire time. Raising a hand he set it on Inaré's arm to still her for a moment.

"Haku?" He asked quietly, moving to be nearer to him. "What is it?"

Haku's lips pursed uncomfortably for a moment before he opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke worriedly.

"Are you going to lose control again?" He asked quietly, lifting a hand to touch Sasuke's face softly. "Last night… that was very sudden. Strangely sudden. Usually there's some sort of warning. Some sort of time to prepare. But last night… Is something like that going to happen again?"

Sasuke's lips pressed themselves into a thin line, and he looked away from Haku, unable to take the other male's intense stare. Immediately, his hand reached up to tug on his scarf uncomfortably.

"Last night…" he breathed softly in thought. Then, suddenly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Last night was a fluke. It's not going to happen again."

_I can control it. I have no choice._

Haku surveyed him for a moment before he nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Okay," he replied. "Because neither I nor Inaré have the power Za… Z has to control it. We can, but it will be harder. So please…" Sasuke turned away from Haku, to the forest. "Don't let a repeat of last night happen again. At least not while we're in here."

Inaré said nothing, looking on with her lips pursed in worry. She knew what they were talking about, oh Gods how could she not? But she didn't have anything more to add. She knew everything Haku had said had been correct.

As much as she hated to admit it.

Sasuke didn't answer, sighing as he closed his eyes.

"Five days…" he breathed inaudibly as Dagina walked over to him and pressed her flank against him (she was just about half his height) and rumbled loudly. Looking down at her, he smiled and reached down to run his fingers through her fur. Nodding to himself, he looked back up at the forest again. "Yes. You're right. I can do it."

_I have to._

Little did he know of the golden yellow eyes almost greedily eying him from the shadows.

"Ah ha, YES!" Sasuke celebrated as they successfully finished nestling in beneath the massive net of roots belonging to one of the great trees. It was almost like the tree was suspended in the air, and the group had found shelter right beneath like. Like a little lion cub snuggling into his mother's warm underbelly. "This is perfect!"

"Haha, if only we had more than five days in this place – we could even have plumbing!" Inaré joked as she emerged from beneath the tree, wiping her hands on her pants. "I dig it a lot. The location can't be seen from the air at all, and it's next to impossible to be seen from the ground. As long as there isn't a fire burning during the night, we're next to invisible while we're in there!"

"Plus it will be exceptionally warm," Haku cooed, smiling from where he sat on an exposed root. "The way the tree is situated, all of the hot air will be trapped underneath right where we'll be staying. It will be lovely."

"And the girls will know instantly if there's anyone trying to sneak up on us," Sasuke added, addressing Dagina and Kaoru, who both looked up from where one lounged and the other prowled the clearing, keeping an eye, ear, and nostril out for intruders. The two mammals had long figured out a routine where one would rest and the other would work. "We're gonna be camping in style for the next four days."

"I suggest we secure food," Haku suggested suddenly, standing up with his hands still slipped comfortably in the opposite arm's wide sleeves. "After that, we can rest for the night and then hunt down our second scroll tomorrow. There is much fighting going on right now. We'll wait for the other teams to get a little tired out before hunting for the second piece to the test."

"Sounds like a plan," Inaré agreed with a smile. "Sounds pretty bitch, but waiting until the other teams are exhausted before attacking is probably the smartest course of action. Plus it'll mean the task will be easier for us."

Sasuke stretched his arms upwards to the sky, feeling his back pop pleasantly.

"Mmmm, feels just like a vacation," he cooed, grinning. Lowering his arms, he looked to his teammates. "So who's grabbing the grub? I'm down."

"We should go," Haku replied before looking to the lone female. "Inaré, if you don't mind, stay at the camp and keep it safe. Keep Kaoru and Moira with you. Dagina can come with us and help us hunt. If it gets dark before we return, she'll be much more useful to us than Moira. And if anything happens while we're gone, Moira can signal me and we can come back to help."

Inaré, resisting the urge to pout, saw the sense in what he said and nodded.

"All right," she replied. "But next time I'm totally going!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement and smiled.

"Okay, sounds like a plan!" He grinned. "Let's get going then, Haku! Let's go grab something delicious!"

With that, the two boys raced off.

"It's good that you wanted to come along," Sasuke told Haku as they moved quietly through the forest, carefully eying Dagina's movements from the tree branches as she hunted. "You're better at identifying edible herbs than Inaré is. We gotta have a well-balanced meal, right?" He grinned at the other male, nuzzling him the littlest bit. "You're so dazzling when you take charge like that."

"Oh dearheart, stop teasing," Haku breathed back with a smile, blushing as he pushed Sasuke away with dainty fingers. "Besides…" he raised his hand, tangling his fingers in Sasuke's hair as he drew closer, breathing softly upon Sasuke's skin. "I am not nearly as dazzling as you."

A shiver lightly teased the other male's pores, making goosebumps rise modestly.

"Ah, Haku…" Sasuke breathed, pressing his cheek against the other's as he sighed. "Mmm, what happened to getting food?"

"I'm sure Dagina will alert you to when she sees something," Haku breathed, his hand drifting across Sasuke's chest. "Besides, with all the fighting happening today, all of the animals are going to be hidden away. We'll have to simply collect plants until the night completely settles in. Then we can hunt those that come out at night; those that haven't been affected by the violence of the day."

Sasuke sighed in pleasure as Haku lightly kissed his jaw bone, those soft, tiny hands fluttering upon his belly and back without even drifting beneath the shirt. They settled onto a large tree branch, Dagina keeping a look out below them.

"Mmm… you don't want to involve Inaré?" Sasuke asked teasingly with a grin. Haku partially opened his eyes, seemed to think about it, but immediately dismissed it.

"I saw you first," he breathed in reply, nuzzling Sasuke's hair and making the other male laugh.

"Ah, this is true…" he breathed, catching one of Haku's hands and lifting it up to kiss the knuckles. "Very much true."

Turning his head, Sasuke snatched Haku's lips in a kiss, and they lingered there as Dagina remained ever vigilant below.

**End Chapter Nine: The Second Exam (Lingers)**

**I hope you enjoyed it. I totally did. :D**

**We'll probably get a little bit of team seven in the next chapter.**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**So much love!**

**DDB**


	18. Flashback Nine: Alone

**Greetings, earthings.**

**Prepare to have your mind blown. *heart***

**I know, I know, I've been bad. And I also know I say that every time you hear from me. :_-D But yeah, sorry. **

**Unfortunately, this is probably going to be the only story updated tonight. Fortunately, it's going to get updated a few times! (YAYYAYYAY!)**

**Lucky for you guys the infinite hiatus of my roleplaying guild has given me plenty of time to pay attention to you guys. Sniffle...**

**But anyway, enjoy! :D**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Nine – Alone**

"_Very good, Sasuke. Very good!"_

_Haku barely had the opportunity to land on his toes before he had to leap to the sky again, needles slicing the air to stab the tree he had just passed by. Sasuke's eyes were blazing red, the three tomoes spinning rapidly with each movement they caught and absorbed. _

_It was the spring of the second year they were spending together, the winter chill beginning to fade and the ice slowly thawing. New buds began to peek out of the tree branches, and green grass started to nervously poke out and rise upwards. The earliest-blooming flowers had already raised their heads high. The air was crisp and sharp, but not cold. A perfect early morning for warming up bodies chilled by the winter freeze. _

_**He's advancing much faster than we expected. **__Zabuza thought as Haku and Sasuke exchanged blow for blow, moving in blasts of snow and water through the trees. __**Haku is barely a challenge for him anymore. Give it another month and the brat will know what he's doing before he will. **__He sighed. __**Haku's prediction is coming true, sure enough. Dammit. **_

"_Ah!" _

_Zabuza looked up at the outcry to see Haku face up on the wet earth, Sasuke solidly straddling him with a needle at the older boy's throat. Zabuza's immediate instinct was to leap up and throw Sasuke off, but he paused when Haku laughed, albeit painfully. _

"_Very good, Sasuke," Haku crooned as Sasuke got off him, reaching a hand out to help him up, which Haku graciously accepted. "Those eyes of yours… they're amazing! And it doesn't help my odds when I lose my footing. Congratulations; you officially won that round."_

_Sasuke beamed at him, his Sharingan fading with little trouble at all. _

"_You need to figure out some new moves, Haku," he told his elder, almost proudly. "Soon I'll know all the ones you got before too long."_

_Haku smiled at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. _

"_If beating me means it's harder for other ninja to beat you, then I will gladly accept being beaten," he replied happily. "But you're right. Together, we can only become stronger."_

"_Next time we're hunted we'll let you handle them, Sasuke," Zabuza stated as the two neared him. "Haku will throw up his ice cage and you can have a field day."_

_Sasuke smirked, his eyes twinkling mischievously. _

"_Heh. Sounds like fun."_

_Zabuza took a moment to eye his young charge, noticing how – though the boy was still so young – he was already so old. _

_**That massacre… stripped away the child in him. I wonder who he had in the Village Hidden in the Leaves that cared about him like family after that.**_

_**Or was there… anyone at all?**_

* * *

"_Haku, I have a question."_

"_Yes, Zabuza?"_

_They were at a hot spring near their lonesome cabin, Sasuke at the other side of the pond in heavy meditation – something that had been a pain to get him to learn and enjoy, but once learned, was enjoyed immensely – with his two older caretakers at the other side. Zabuza relaxed his sore muscles in the springs, while Haku remained clothed and on the lookout with Zabuza's weapons and his clothing. They would switch places after Zabuza was finished soaking. _

"_Do you think there was anyone else besides us?" He asked his younger partner. "After his entire family was murdered. Do you think… if it wasn't for us… he would be alone?"_

_Haku paused in his internal muses to give Zabuza a thoughtful look. _

"_Hmm… I don't know," he replied after a moment, looking across the pool at Sasuke. "We never asked about his life before us. And he never talked about it. From what I have heard, the Uchiha were a very reclusive clan. They weren't fond of outsiders and bred within themselves constantly. But they were forever loyal to each other. To think that an Uchiha killed his very own clan… it's troubling to think about."_

"_Do you think Sasuke knew the guy who did it?" Zabuza asked. _

"_I'm sure he did," Haku replied. "The Uchiha was a big clan, but they were also like one big neighborhood. Everyone knew everyone – at least that was the impression I got. There are only a couple of books on clans like that, but they exist."_

"_Of course they exist," Zabuza answered gruffly. "The Sharingan is one of the most potent bloodlines in all five Lands. Everyone wants a piece of the power, and if they can't have a piece, they at least want to understand it so that they one day might."_

_There was silence between them for a moment as they both thought._

"_Zabuza," Haku began. "I have a question for you now."_

"_Speak."_

"_When we first captured him…" the younger male breathed. "Did you… Would you… would you have killed him if he wasn't an Uchiha? Was saving him and making him ours a way of getting a piece of that power?"_

_Zabuza opened his eyes; gazed up at the barely cloudy sky as he thought back to a year ago, when they first met the Uchiha. _

"_You know, if you had asked me that a year ago, I would've been able to give you a definite answer," Zabuza replied honestly. "When I first took him from his group… I didn't know his name or who he was. But the fire in his eyes, the eagerness when he leaped up and ran at me – sure, it might've been out of desperation because his teacher was trapped in a bubble like a bitch, but still. He was prepared. He was ready. He knew I could kill him and would kill him but didn't care. He did what he felt like he needed to do. You don't see such conviction in kids his age. It was… striking." Another moment of silence as Haku smiled. "I looked at him… and I saw myself." _

"_I don't think he's __**quite**__ like you, Zabuza," Haku teased mildly. He reached down and stroked Zabuza's hair. "But he does have your eyes." _

_Zabuza snorted mildly at the comment, but didn't grace it with a response. Haku sighed, looking back over to Sasuke._

"_I would like to think we made his life better," he breathed, making Zabuza open his eyes again. "I like to think that taking him away from such horrible memories was a good thing. I hope that we have given him a chance to heal and become a better person than he would've been otherwise." His eyes narrowed painfully. "I hope we saved him from being alone."_

"_It's sad to think about, huh?" Zabuza murmured, his eyes closed. "Such a big family, and then suddenly, poof. It's all gone." He chuckled wryly. "And now all he's got is us."_

_Haku chuckled softly. _

"_We're better than nothing, I think," he mused. "And we're better off with him around, too."_

"_Tsk, sure," Zabuza stated dryly. "Now that he's started pulling his weight." _

_Haku merely rolled his eyes and smiled._

_**They don't know.**_

_Sasuke didn't move from where he sat across the pool, still half meditating, but alert enough to barely catch the voices._

_**They don't know that it was…**_

_Red eyes and long black hair flashed in his memory, but he pushed them back, forcing his Chakra to maintain an even flow. _

_**Yes, Haku, Zabuza. You're right. I was alone.**_

_Barely, he opened his eyes to look at them, the mists above the water making everything a little hazy around the edges. His eyes stung, and he blamed it on the steam._

_**But not anymore.**_

**End Flashback Nine – Alone**

**BAAAAAAH SO CUTE**

**Anyway, please review if it made you smile? :3 Or if it gave you any sort of reaction at all?**

**Thank you so much! LOOOOOOVES!**

**DDB**


	19. Puncture Wounds

**I really, really like this chapter.**

**The dialogue just makes me laugh. You'll see what I mean soon. *heart***

**Read on, reader(reviewer? :D) units!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Ten – Puncture Wounds**

"Gah… dammit!" Naruto huffed, wiping the sweat from his eyes. "They had an Earth scroll, just like we did!"

"We probably should've made sure before we engaged them," Sai admitted monotonously, wiping his kunai on an unconscious ninja's shirt.

"But they jumped _us_!" Naruto steamed angrily, feeling his muscles ache. "I bet they were just trying to get rid of the competition! Damn them!"

"Even so," Sakura stated, rising into a stand and smoothing out her dress. "We should move on. Let's burn their scroll and get out of here! The commotion was sure to catch some attention. There are probably other teams watching us right now!"

"I suggest we keep the scroll," Sai argued, looking at Naruto, who had the blood-stained item clenched in one hand. "That way we have a back-up just in case we're defeated by another group."

"Planning for defeat means you plan on being defeated," Naruto snapped in irritation, fixing his headband with his free hand. "No way, not me. Not to these bastards."

Sakura sighed heavily.

"Well, at any rate, I'm exhausted," she said. "Let's get some distance in between us and this location, and find some food before it gets too late."

"Good idea," Sai agreed, rummaging through an unconscious ninja's clothes. Sakura's upper lip twitched.

"Sai, what're you doing?"

"Looting the body," he replied simply, finding the ninja's stash of kunais and taking them for himself. "We won. We deserve a reward."

"Let's take their clothes too; leave 'em butt-ass naked," Naruto grumbled. "Dicks." Sai laughed.

"If you wish, we can," he replied, his eyes having the barest hint of a twinkle. "Or we can just set them on fire."

"I particularly don't want to burn down our cover," Sakura protested. "Besides, the forest is too big. I'm sure our proctor would put it out before it got out of hand."

"That's insinuating that I wouldn't be able to keep the fire contained," Sai quipped, giving Sakura a pointed look. Sakura shrugged.

"I don't want to leave things to chance right now – do you?" She asked him. Sai simply shrugged, a little butt-hurt, and continued his reaping. Looking at the two men, she scowled and shook her head. "Fine," she stated. "I'll go find something to eat. There's got to be some herbs or small game we can find."

"Wait, Sakura." Blinking, she turned to see Naruto toss the scroll at Sai and walk up to her. "I'll help you out. Besides, I don't think you'd have the heart to kill anything." He looked to Sai. "Sai, you remember that big tree-"

"There are _many _big trees in this forest, Naruto."

"…_SHUT UP. _Do you remember that big tree that looked like something really nasty had bitten it? With that fallen log in front of it covered in those flowers that Sakura had a fit over?" Sakura scowled at Naruto as Sai thought, then the ravenhead nodded. "Okay, go ahead and set up camp there. Should be far away enough that it won't be that bad. Signal if something happens."

"Are you sure we should split up?" Sakura questioned. "We just had a really hard fight, and we're all tired."

"Finding a place together and then going hunting together will take too much time," Naruto replied. "We need to get it done and then settle down for the day. We need to find water too."

_Wow, Naruto's actually being… smart. _Sakura thought in awe. _I wonder… why?_

_I need to survive this. _Naruto thought as they headed out. _I need-want- to find Sasuke. I want to meet him in the final round. I wonder how he's doing._

* * *

"Any success?"

"Sure," Sasuke replied happily, a small deer draped across his shoulders with her neck heavily mauled. "Dagina got a little carried away, but the rest of her is still good."

Inaré smiled at him, noting the blood that matted the fur around the tiger's mouth and coated her whiskers.

"I'm surprised Kaoru didn't join," she commented, helping him set the deer on the ground beneath their tree as Haku followed them in, a serene look on his face.

"She was a very good wolf," Sasuke crooned, giving the animal appreciative scratching along her jawline and behind her neck, making her arch in pleasure. Moira chirped happily upon seeing Haku, flying down from one of the upper branches to greet him. "Weren't you, my dear?" He leaned down and rubbed faces with her. "Yesh yew were!"

Kaoru gave a happy growl before Sasuke released her and she padded over to Inaré, settling down next to her as the girl took a carving knife from her belt.

"Well, let's get started then, before it gets dark," she stated, kneeling down in front of the deer. "We wouldn't want to risk a fire at night in these woods."

"What do you think is out there?" Sasuke asked, leaning back onto his hands as he watched Inaré work. The way she sliced the skin from the creature's body could almost be considered art. "I mean, the monsters that come out at night. These trees can't be this big without harboring some big things."

"I'm not entirely sure," Haku replied from where he stood at the edge of the tree, looking outwards at the forest. "But I have a few theories."

"Really now?" Sasuke quipped, smirking. "Please, do tell. I always love to hear your 'theories'."

Haku chuckled, not looking over his shoulder to lay eye on his two companions.

"Well, on the subject of 'monsters', have you seen some of the bite marks that are in some of these trees? Like something took a snap at something and missed? Most of them are very deep, like puncture wounds, and they always come in pairs, always equally spaced from one another. It's almost like they're from a-"

Suddenly Moira let out a shrill shriek, and Sasuke and Inaré looked up to see Haku turn his head just in time to be snapped up in the angry, detachable jaws of one very massive-

"_**SNAKE!"**_

**End Chapter Ten – Puncture Wounds**

**You know, usually I hate Sai, but I really like him in this chapter.**

**Heehee, looting the body. You intelligent little thief you, haha. **

**Hope you enjoyed the latest installment! One more after this! Well, maybe two more. Maybe.**

**LOOOOOOOOOVES**

**DDB**


	20. Flashback Ten: Fading

**I'll save my comments for the end. **

**In the meantime, enjoy my darlings.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Ten – Fading**

_He opened his eyes to hear the birds singing, and smiled. _

_Rising into a sitting position, he rubbed his eyes and looked around, remembering that he and Haku had taken the bed the night before as he noticed the sun streaming out of the window behind him. _

_**Such a silly place to have a window. No wonder this room puts Zabuza on edge most of the time.**_

_He was alone, not surprisingly. Unless they were training first thing in the morning, Haku always let him sleep late. Zabuza probably only didn't throw his ass out of bed because of Haku's insistence. _

_**Ha, thank you Haku.**_

_Not quite yet did he move to get out of the bed. Instead he sat there, elbows resting on his knees, as he gazed at the opposite wall. For some reason, the soft, hazy spring moment instilled a feeling of quiet, bittersweet nostalgia within him, and he could only think about what he no longer had. _

_Sakura, Naruto, his teacher… he could barely remember what they looked like anymore. Sometimes, in his dreams, he could've sworn he saw images, flashes, that looked like them, but he couldn't really be sure. What did Kohona look like? He thought he remembered it clearly enough, but how could he be sure that that was what it __**really **__looked like? _

_He could remember his room like he had just left it that morning, though. And his mother, and his father. He could see them, clearly. _

_Or so he thought. _

_**How can you be so sure? What is true and what has your brain created to make it seem less horrible?**_

_After all, how could he forget so quickly? The place where he lived for ten years… after a year and a few months, how could it have vanished so fast? Like water through his fingers. He almost felt guilty for having forgotten. He wanted to remember, he really did._

_But he couldn't go back. Not now. Not anymore. _

_**Who am I? **_

_Scowling, he lowered his knees back to the bed in a crossed position and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. In that moment, he felt emptiness fill his heart, and a feeling of great loss completely overwhelmed him. The question was shocking, raw and horrible._

_**Who do I belong to?**_

_He initially asked that about the Lands, but once the question was there, it turned into something else entirely as two faces appeared in his mind. At their emerging, he paused, and lowered his hands into his lap as he thought. _

_**Them. I belong to them.**_

_At the thought, the realization, the admittance, he raised his eyes and stared at the opposite wall again in amazement._

_**Nothing else matters. Only they do. Only them. Everything else is… optional. **_

_Before he knew it, a beaming grin broke across his face, and he chuckled hollowly, the happiness that broke through that icy crater his heart had fallen into after what his brother did melting away the chill so forcefully it was painful. He giggled harder, covering his mouth with his hand as his entire body shook._

_He realized it now. Being an avenger didn't matter anymore. Being an Uchiha didn't matter anymore. Being a great ninja to gain respect and fame didn't matter anymore. He didn't have to be cruel or cold anymore to protect himself. He was safe now. With them, he could be warm again. Because of them._

_Only they mattered. He would become a great ninja to protect __**them**__. To gain __**their **__respect. He raised a hand to his chest and settled his palm there, where he felt his beating heart._

_**I am not an Uchiha anymore. That red and white fan doesn't matter anymore. They're gone; all of them are gone. They don't matter anymore. It doesn't matter anymore. I am not one of them anymore.**_

_He closed his eyes. _

_**I am only Sasuke. **_

_With the epiphany, wings sprouted from his back, and he soared away into the clouds as tears poured down his face, burying his face into his arms. _

_Any as his spirit flew into the clouds, that aching pain that had always been at the edge of his heart (the pain that crept up on him and reminded him of how truly terrible it still was during those dark cold nights of hateful, frightful dreams) faded, faded, faded into nothingness._

* * *

_When he entered the main room later that morning, Haku and Zabuza were sitting there talking over a bowl of deer soup, and they both looked up at his entrance._

_Haku blinked at him, setting down his bowl and moving to stand up when he saw the expression on Sasuke's face, but the boy calmly motioned for him to stay seated. Zabuza raised an eyebrow at him as Haku managed a weak smile. _

"_Good morning, dearheart," he greeted. "I thought it would be a good idea to let you sleep in after all the hard work you put in yesterday." He motioned to the food. "Would you like some food? It's quite delicious." When Sasuke didn't respond, still with that blank, almost deadly serious look on his face, Haku blinked and looked at him worriedly. Even Zabuza took his arm off the top of the sofa and leaned forward ever so slightly. "Sasuke… what's wrong?"_

_Sasuke closed his eyes, sighed, and took a very deep breath, his face still red from crying. Before them, he felt no fear._

_Only freedom._

"_I… want to thank both of you for everything you've done for me," he stated quietly, the world around them silent. "I hated both of you at first, for taking me from everything I've ever known, but I've come to realize something…" he closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "In order to gain something great, you have to lose something great. I lost my homeland, my team, my teacher, my master plan. Everything I tried to piece together after what happened was stolen from me when I took that headband from you. But I've realized that despite my best attempts, that's all they were. Pieces. Fragments. Nothing would ever be the same and I was an idiot to try to pretend like it would be. If I were to go back in time to that day, knowing what I know now…" he nodded slightly to himself. "I wouldn't change anything. I would still choose you. This is what I was meant for, and it took me over a year to completely understand that." Opening his eyes, he looked at both of them. Haku seemed to fighting back tears, and even Zabuza seemed a little moved, looking at him solemnly. "You two… saved me, and…" He took a deep breath. "I would like… to tell you about it now." He smiled weakly at them, and the next breath he took was shaky. "I want… to tell you about them. My mother, and my father, and…" his gaze steeled slightly. "…My brother. My village. My favorite memories. My worst experiences. I've been hiding myself from you like I hid myself away from my entire village, locked in my own personal prison and…" he shook his head. "I don't want to do that anymore. I want to be free."_

_There was no pause, no hesitation. As soon as he was done talking, Haku reached up and took Sasuke's hand in his, pulling him down onto the love seat they had recently acquired, so that they were facing Zabuza with the small coffee table in between them. He wrapped the boy in a hug. _

"_I'm so happy for you, my dear," he breathed in Sasuke's ear. "Finally, at last. Thank you, thank you so much."_

_For the first, honest time that Sasuke could remember, he wrapped his arms around Haku and gave him a hard, firm return hug. He could hear Haku sniffling with an attempt not to cry, and he smiled. _

_He had forgotten how liberating hugs were. _

"_Y-yes," Haku stammered as Sasuke released him, reluctantly letting go. Rubbing his eyes, he turned and escaped into the tiny kitchenette behind the loveseat to get Sasuke a bowl of soup and a cup of water, setting it on the table in front of him without actually looking Sasuke in the eye. He settled down next to Sasuke and took the boy's hands in his. "I've always wondered what it was like. The Land of Fire. I've always wanted to know more about your life and what made you… well, you." Raising Sasuke's hands, he kissed them. "Thank you, thank you for trusting us."_

_Sasuke only smiled at him. _

_**I am not an Uchiha anymore.**_

_**I am only Sasuke.**_

"_Thank you," he breathed back, squeezing the hands that held his. "So, what do you want to hear about first?"_

_**I am only yours.**_

_As he spoke with them, told him about his parents, his village, and about his horrible, horrible secret, his anger, his rage, his pain – all of it seemed to grow wings and took off, fading away. And as Haku cried, and as his crying made Sasuke cry again, and as Zabuza stood, kneeled in front of the loveseat and pulled both of them into his arms, his shackles faded from his being._

_Finally, finally, finally…_

_**I am free.**_

**End Flashback Ten – Fading**

**I love this chapter. But I hate this chapter at the same time. **

**Tell me what you thought? PLEEEEEEASE? This was a really big step for Sasuke and I'm wondering what you thought of it.**

**LOOOOOOOOOVES**

**DDB**


	21. Calm

**Greetings, reader/reviewer units.**

**So, I have a predicament. Part of the reason it takes me so long to update is because my attention is scattered between oh, nine-ish different stories (which is entirely my fault and I accept that) but here's the thing.**

**When I devote my attention entirely to one or two stories, I produce chapters much faster than I would otherwise (I'm sure you've noticed with the oh, 5ish new chapters that have come out in the past few weeks? More than the past two years. .). So I'm planning to put the other stories on temp hiatus (I promise, temp. Maybe not for a couple, but for most temp) so I can devote my attention fully to two stories in particular. This one and Treacherous Heart. And maybe when the inspiration strikes me I'll continue the Demon Saga. I want to hear your opinions on this. If there's enough outrage over my decision, I might retract it, but that means the stories taking longer and longer to finish. Once these are more or less complete, I'd move onto the others. But this is what I need to operate more efficiently and get more chapters out for you guys, otherwise I'm just kinda floundering with the weight of the stuff I need to update. Please understand, and enjoy this chapter and the following flashback.**

**This story is getting good. 3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Eleven – Calm**

"Haku!" Sasuke cried, running out of the tree, Inaré and the two creatures closely behind him.

They entered the clearing and looked up, way up to the top branches of the trees, where light struggled to stream through.

"Oh, fucking God," Inaré cursed, Kaoru ready to pounce, snarling, at her side.

From what Sasuke could tell, it was a gigantic cobra, slightly purple in tint and weighing well over four tons. The length of the thing could wrap around one of the massive trees around them and easily crush it beneath its girth.

And in its jaws sat Haku, only his head showing and the rest of his body in the serpent's giant mouth, nestled in between the massive fangs. _Wait, what? Why didn't it just eat him-? _The creature's big yellow eyes stared down at them from where it sat with the head raised, fans on either side of its head slightly stretched open.

"He's still alive," Inaré breathed in relief. "But why?"

"Something's controlling that thing," Sasuke breathed in icy rage. "Inaré, be on your guard! Someone else is here with us!"

Haku grunted, and barely managed to open his eyes. The snake might not have killed him, but it was certainly doing nothing to make living any easier as the crushing weight of its jaw pressed down on him.

"Ah…" he breathed weakly. "Mo… Moira!"

At his breathless call for help, his two companions heard a violent shriek from above their heads, and the tiny bird leaped from the tree branch it had been sitting on and dove downwards towards the ground, pulling up just in time and streaking towards the snake in an explosion of Chakra, going so fast that an eruption of sound in the form of a circle – like a shield – burst forth from his tiny body as he struck the snake in an upward arc, slicing it open from belly to throat. Sasuke and Inaré stood there, stunned for a second as purplish-black blood spurted violently from the enormous arteries to the ground in front of them, and a lifeless jaw fell open as the creature's entire body sagged.

"Wow, I didn't know Moira could break the sound barrier," Sasuke commented mildly. Inaré blinked.

"Yeah, I didn't either," she replied, breathless. "He's getting better."

The jaw relaxed enough that Haku slipped from the monster's grasp, and Sasuke leaped forward and jumped up to catch his teammate before he hit the ground, laying him safely on the forest floor.

"Ewe…" Sasuke muttered, setting Haku down on a tree root opposite the dead snake. "You're covered in snake spit."

Haku coughed and opened his eyes.

"My apologies," he stated. "I was careless."

"You're okay," Sasuke assured him warmly as Haku managed to stand up. "Speak of the devil, right? What a fucking monster."

"Um… Sasuke?" Inaré called to him from where she stood still looking at the snake. "It's about to get a lot worse."

Both Haku and Sasuke looked over at the monstrosity to see it shivering and shaking, the dead body quivering though the earth stayed still. Then, before their eyes, the split muscles and tendons and supports pulled themselves back together, sewing themselves up from the ground up, and the back of the snake's head welded itself back together, those eyes snapping open and gleaming with life once again as the creature became whole once more.

The newly-living snake seemed to grin at them. Sasuke couldn't breathe for a moment.

"Wow, I really hope that Anko bitch realizes this isn't funny."

"And worse yet, Moira is going to be useless until tomorrow," Haku commented in distress. Sasuke scowled, looking at him.

"Really?" He asked incredulously. "We're about to get eaten by a snake that apparently has nine lives, and you're concerned about the _bird_? The one that can _get up and_ _fly away_?"

"Well, if that's true, then it has eight now," Inaré stated as the serpent swayed dangerously from side to side, waiting for them to move as those eyes endlessly watched them. Silently, she slowly reached over her shoulder and pulled out the sword that had been sheathed across her back, a wickedly thick thing with a curved blade and hooked end. "Let's find out how many it's ready to waste today."

"I get a terrible feeling about this," Haku breathed, reaching into his sleeves, where his needles were stored. "But I must agree. Nothing covers me in its slimy mucous secretions and gets away with it."

"Ewe, Haku," Sasuke stated simply as he readied himself as well, taking a kunai from his belt and his eyes never leaving the snake. "Dagina and Kaoru will be used as distractions. The instant we don't have the situation under control, they bail and catch up with us later. Agreed?"

"Yes," Inaré responded. "We've invested way too much in those animals to just let them get eaten."

"We should stop talking," Haku commented blankly. "Let's go."

As one, they charged, Inaré on the right, Haku on the left and Sasuke in the center.

And then, as they did so, all hell broke loose.

Snakes, smaller ones, but still as long as Sasuke was tall, leaped out of the wood work, engaging Inaré, Haku, and the two animals simultaneously. The big one, however, went for Sasuke, lashing out and spreading its jaws wide.

Sasuke jumped up (with the massive weight of the creature smashing into the earth), landing on top of the snake's dorsal side and planning to wrap the snake up in some steel wire to hopefully contain it long enough for them to get away, but that plan crashed to a halt as Dagina howled in agony. His eyes snapped to his animal to see her assaulted by three smaller snakes. Two of them had their fangs already in her fur (hopefully it was too thick for them to get a good grip) and another was trying to wrap itself around her throat as she madly bucked and clawed and howled.

"NO!" Sasuke yelled, leaping off the mother snake and lashing out with his kunai, slicing apart the tinier creatures easily enough. "GO!" He shouted to his animal. "Go, NOW!"

Lifting her half-way off the ground, he all but threw her into the trees, and she managed to land on all fours and limp away to the shadows.

_We need to keep them distracted. _Sasuke thought. _There's no way these snakes want just the animals. Creatures that are so infused with Chakra would kill normal predators. _His eyes narrowed as he looked at the big snake, and he could hear Inaré free Kaoru and usher her to safety as well. _But then again, these aren't just regular killers, are they?_

As far as he could tell, the smaller serpents weren't piecing themselves back together. A good thing, as far as he was concerned.

_But we still need to deal with the mother…_

What else to call the fucking bitch that just refused to die?

Stringing steel wire to some kunai and running to the massive snake as he did so, he spun the kunai and threw one, aiming above the snake as he dashed to the monster's opposite side. The snake hissed, its purple and yellow colored fan unfurling to its full extent as it snapped at him again. He jumped, dodging the blow, and flung other kunai from his fingers, creating a spider web of wire after a series of baiting and dodging the creature.

Almost snarling at him, the mother tried to rise up to her full height, only to realize the metal wiring at her back kept her boxed in, low to the ground with trees both in front of her and to her back. She hissed violently as she realized that she was trapped, her choices either to stay close to the earth or potentially get sliced up by the wires.

Smirking at his work, Sasuke jumped up and landed solidly at the center of her fan as she struggled against the steel, the wiring now not just wrapped around kunai, but around trees.

Sasuke eyes widened as he looked down at the snake. He hadn't seen it before, but he saw it now. Markings, insignias, runes – all a bright purple in color – drawn in patterns on the creature's scales.

_I get it now. _He thought, his face going cold. _This snake. Somebody summoned it. It has a pact with someone. It's someone's __**pet**__. Someone's __**partner**__._

_Like Dagina. _

At the thought, he snarled.

_No. This monster is __**nothing **__like Dagina._

"INARÉ!" He roared, raising his hand high. "SWORD!"

Without question, she took her weapon by the blade and threw it up to him, her companion catching it by the hilt. Fire burning in his eyes, he raised the sword high up over his head, right in the center of the runes.

"Summoned beast or not, I'll kill you for what you did to her," he swore viciously as he sent the sword plunging down. "DIE!"

Before he could connect, metal sung a shrill song as it cut through the air, and the metal wires binding the snake snapped and she immediately reared up mightily with a serpentine roar, bucking him neatly off and sending the sword sailing out of his hand to sink itself into the ground in the center of the clearing.

He spun wildly in the air, managing to land hard on his feet, but the momentum was too much and he skid forward towards the edge of the clearing to flop onto his stomach by the brush, his heels smarting and the wind knocked out of him.

_What the fuck? _He cursed silently as he shakily pushed himself up off the ground, gasping.

"Those metal wires didn't just snap by themselves…" he breathed to himself, struggling to breathe. Pain in his ribcage told him he had cracked a rib or two, if not broken them completely. He grit his teeth against it. "Fucking bitch… that sound before…" his eyes narrowed and rage flared behind them. "Somebody _cut the ropes_."

_The snake's owner._

At those words, he was acutely aware of someone watching him, and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck as he looked around before focusing his attention on the darkness of the bushes in front of him. His heart, his mind, his skin – every single instinct in his body screamed at him to run and hide and close the gates (_oh God please save us-!) _against the monster looming at the edge of the horizon, but before he could obey he saw sharp, yellow almond eyes gazing at him from the darkness, almost glowing in their power. Every muscle in Sasuke's body went rigid and his breath caught sharply in his throat.

_Those are the eyes of a snake._

"_My preciousssss thing…"_

But they sat in the face of a man.

Sasuke felt the color drain from his face; he couldn't breathe as long, lithe fingers with sharp green nails reached for him from the darkness _(death itself)_. He was caught, terrified, mesmerized, in those wicked eyes, and cold sweat trickled down his face as suddenly the entire world seemed to stop existing except for those fingers, those eyes.

It was as if he had been sucked into the stuff of nightmares. Like a creature of prey, his heart quivered in terror beneath that gaze.

Those fingers, cold as death, touched his face ever so gently.

"_At lasssst, I've found you."_

That chilled touch snapped Sasuke out of it, and he felt every fiber in his body pour all of its energy into _getting the fuck away-!_

He launched himself backwards, almost flying across the floor of the clearing as he struggled to scream but found that he couldn't. His throat frozen with fear, he could only run away silently screaming for help.

_OhGodohGodohGodohGodohGod-!_

But that snake man followed him, and as he hit the ground and rolled, lifting himself onto his feet, the man slammed into him, sending them both rolling across the ground again and Sasuke found himself fighting for his life as a slippery devil with pale skin, long black hair, and lithe, powerful body fought for purchase on top of him, hissing and cooing excitedly with long snake tongue whistling in and out of slender, pointed teeth.

It was like fighting with the dead, angry body of a colossus – how cold and strong this monster was. Blindly, he fought back, his panicked defense easily deflected and pushed aside, making him panic even more.

Didn't Inaré and Haku see what was happening? Didn't they see that he needed help? He couldn't fight this force of nature, this abomination. This incarnation of dread. Oh God, he was so scared-

_**You will not quiver like some child.**_

That simple command had every single hair on his body settling back down to the skin as the beast within him arose and the goose bumps faded, and when he opened his eyes again they were calm and composed, no fear left as he stared into the eyes of the beast. There was a pause as they simply stared at each other. No fear left.

Only anger remained.

The snake man found his prey was much stronger than any spell of horror he had weaved as he found himself being launched through the air towards the mother snake, Sasuke rolling off his back and rising onto his feet, fists clenched and face straight.

Now that his vision and mind were both clear, Sasuke could see the snake man in front of him for just that: a man of flesh and bone. He had a triangular jaw, and a nose that was almost more for show than use, the two slits beneath it showing his true nature.

_Wow. Just like a snake._

He laughed as he pushed himself into a stand, peering through his oily hair at Sasuke.

"Very good," he cooed in compliment, one corner of his lips twitching upwards in a smile. "For an instant you almost had me worried that I had made a poor choice. But I knew I couldn't have – not when it came to you."

Sasuke's eye twitched as he surveyed the man, something about him making a memory from very long ago itch uncomfortably.

"Right," he stated as it came to him, almost as if it were summoned. "I know you. You're one of the three legendary ninjas of Konoha. One of the _Sannin_." He raised an eyebrow at the man. "One of you is a pervert, which you are decidedly so. The other is a female, which you don't seem to be, and the third is a creep. Which you also fit the description. But the pervert also has big hair, and if you ask me you could definitely stand to use some volumizing shampoo. So." He raised an eyebrow at the man, and he could feel his heart rate slowing down below angrily dangerous levels. Now the snake man was only a man, and with his mortality rate just as high. "Looks like you're the perverted creep, then. The snake-master, Orochimaru. If memory serves, aren't you a wanted criminal? What the fuck are you doing in the village? And at a Chunin Exam no less? Don't you have better things to do?"

By this time, Inaré and Haku had finished off their opponents and now they stood, watching the interaction as the giant snake lingered behind her master, awaiting orders. Inaré itched to leap in and tussle with the new opponent, but Haku eyed Sasuke in worry.

_His aura… it's changed. This can't be good. _

Sasuke was usually calm, this was true. But this was a particular type of calm that make Haku instantaneously go on edge. A radiating, deceptive calm that rippled outwards – something that was both powerful and controlled.

The calm before the storm. The breath before the strike. The pause before the kill.

Sasuke was more dangerous calm than he ever was angry.

_So much for it not happening again._

The man smiled.

"Impressive extent of knowledge, for someone who doesn't live in Konoha," he replied serenely. "I knew I chose well. But yes, you are correct."

"I read a lot of books," Sasuke replied simply with a blank stare, even though a part of him deep inside rippled with unease. "And besides, when you're bad enough to get on the blacklist of one nation, odds are you're dick enough to get on the blacklist of the others. I've known about the Sannin ever since I knew what a ninja was. And trust me, there's a lot of red ink when your name is concerned."

"I'm flattered," Orochimaru cooed, taking a dramatic bow. "I do try to make a name for myself. But concerning myself with the affairs of state is so… _petty_. I have much better things to amuse myself with."

He fluttered his eyelashes at the boy, but the only reaction he got out of Sasuke was a raised eyebrow.

"I don't care about what you have to entertain yourself with," he stated plainly, and Haku could feel the thunder within Sasuke's being roll and shift in anticipation. He could almost _see _the fire rolling beneath the other's skin, itching to find an opening to escape in a burst of flame and hiss of steam. "We have an exam to complete. Leave. And take your giant pet with you before I skin it alive."

Orochimaru glanced over his shoulder at the monstrous serpent behind him and chuckled.

"Ah, I don't believe so," he responded with a crooked smile. "You see, you don't know it yet, but you're mine." His smile widened into a grin. "And like it or not, I'm going to have you."

Sasuke's eyes sharpened dangerously.

"Dream on," he snarled.

And with that, Orochimaru launched himself at Sasuke again, and the fight began anew.

**End Chapter Eleven – Calm**

**So yes, please leave me a review (and an opinion, if you have one) telling me what you thought.**

**Enjoy the flashback after this!**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	22. Flashback Eleven: Fly

**Here's the next flashback and the last update for tonight. **

**Enjoy.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Eleven – Fly**

"_You know Zabuza? The Demon Hidden in the Mist?"_

"_Yeah. One of the seven swordsmen of the Land of Water. What of him?"_

"_Rumor is he's got some kid with him. Has been training him. From what I hear the kid is strong. Because of him the Demon has continued to evade capture."_

"_Haha, really now? So he's raising a little Demon Jr? Interesting. What about that other brat the Demon had?"_

"_From what I hear, he's still with them too."_

"_Tsk, it doesn't matter how many little boys the Demon ensnares. The ninja will capture them, and he will finally be executed. Him and his little brats."_

"_I don't know. If they were going to, they would've done so already, right?"_

"_Don't sweat it. Regardless, even demons make mistakes. Those three are bound to lose their footing sometime."_

"_I suppose, yeah."_

"_Yep. You just gotta keep the pressure on."_

"_Very good, Sasuke!"_

_Sasuke gazed down at the body at his feet, eyes too sad to be proud of the praise directed towards him as Haku landed next to him._

"_We managed to suffer minimal injuries thanks to your quick reflexes. You were amazing, Sasuke."_

_Raising his eyes, Sasuke smiled weakly at the older boy. _

"_Thank you," he breathed softly before looking back to the dead shinobi. Haku's lips pursed as he gazed at the boy, and he raised a hand and set it on Sasuke's shoulders. _

"_You did what you had to do, dearheart," he breathed softly as Zabuza appeared in the trees nearby, the summoned haze dissipating with a breath. "You protected us. It was either us or them."_

_Sasuke pushed Haku's hand away. _

"_Shut up," he snapped coldly, looking away. "Just because I did what was necessary doesn't mean I enjoyed doing it."_

_He imagined Haku's hurt expression and hated himself for it, though he didn't immediately apologize. It was hard changing, he was quick to realize. Every time his voice was a little too sharp and his eyes were a little too cold; every time he found himself falling back into those instinctive blank stares and struggled with being who he truly wanted to be compared to who he had made himself, he realized it. It had seemed so easy that day he realized he was free – so simple. It didn't seem real, how easy it looked. Almost like a trick his mind tried to play on him to let his guard down. Like when a child who has been told all his life he can't fly becomes convinced he can, but then rises onto his feet and jumps off the ledge only to realize that gravity is a cruel, cruel master. But at the same time, as he falls down into that chasm to the jagged boulders below, he insists to himself that it was true. And even as he strikes the stones with all the force of nature, he still imagines wings bursting from his back and reaching into the sky above. Until everything permanently goes dark._

_But maybe that child never could truly fly._

_What was he so afraid of?_

_**Don't be an idiot. You know.**_

_But his legs worked just fine. He might not have been able to fly, but he could certainly do everything else a person could. _

"_My darling, how do we fly?"_

_His mother… she had always understood him. She could read his mind and know his woes without him ever saying a thing. Knew exactly what he was thinking. What magic she carried in her breast. _

_**Jump and forget how to fall.**_

_He wanted to forget. He wanted to be free. Every time he looked Haku in the eyes he begged for that hope to come back to him, to make it easy again._

_Old habits die hard, his elders used to say. He didn't realize how true those words were until he tried to prove them wrong. He wanted change. His habits were poison, he knew that. This wasn't a fairytale. A story where change was instantaneous and the main character had no fear, harbored no doubts about his choice. Sasuke wanted to be like that and he knew it. But…_

_**You're afraid of change.**_

_What if he truly opened his heart again? What if he decided to love them like he loved his real family?_

_What if his brother came for them too? Would he be the useless, crying child he was when the unspeakable happened? Would history would repeat itself and leave him broken and beaten again? Would loving so greatly betray him again so horribly? The more he thought about it, the more the fear sank into his breast, turning his heart colder and colder._

_**I can't. I want to, but I can't. I have to protect myself.**_

"_You have to fight it, Sasuke."_

_He jolted himself out of his revere when he heard Zabuza's voice, and he raised his eyes to look at the man's face from where Zabuza stood in front of him. The man raised a great hand and set it on Sasuke's shoulder. _

"_You have to be strong enough," Zabuza began, "to overcome those fears in your head and become who you want to be. Nothing's going to happen if you just sulk and whine like a baby. You have to be brave. You have to fight. Destroy whatever threatens what you love. Take what you hold dear and protect it. With both fists. You do that, and nobody will ever take anything away from you ever again." That hand moved from Sasuke's shoulder to touch Sasuke's face, and the young boy could only stare at Zabuza in awe. How did he know? How did he __**know**__? "Being afraid is what will hold you back. Don't be afraid, and you will learn how to fly."_

_**That magic in her breast-**_

_Sasuke swallowed, and he closed his eyes only to find himself pushing his cheek into Zabuza's hand. He clung to that voice reverberating in his skull like a mighty lion clings to its dying prey – like the struggling prey clings to its life even as its others vanish beyond the horizon. That voice and the words it carried were essential to live – essential for carrying on. _

_Maybe it wouldn't have carried the same weight if Haku had said it. Maybe it would've. Maybe it would've carried a different sort of weight. But Zabuza, a man who rarely showed compassion and rarely spoke in great lengths, took Sasuke's head in both hands and pulled the boy to him, letting Sasuke wrap his arms around the great man's belly. _

"_I want to fly," Sasuke mumbled into that muscular abdomen. "I want to be free."_

"_And you will be," Zabuza assured him, and his mighty arms swallowed Sasuke like tree trunks. The boy was lost in the forest of the man's arms. "You just have to learn and accept that freedom might come with killing a few people and some parts of yourself too. But if those parts are the ones that are weak, then you shouldn't cry over them. That ninja…" Sasuke turned his head to look at the dead man on the ground. "You killed him to protect what you care about. He knew what he was getting into and he chose to do it anyway. We all make choices. But some of them you shouldn't feel guilty about, okay?" He clapped his hand on Sasuke's head and ruffled his hair. "Got it brat? Don't worry, we'll teach you to fly. God's dick, your hair's getting long."_

_Sasuke managed to laugh, pushing Zabuza's hand away as he ran his fingers through his hair. _

"_It's okay, I don't mind," he replied as Haku ruffled his hair with a laugh. Pushing Haku playfully, Sasuke took his hair – which was passed his shoulders now – and pulled it in between his fingers. "I figure… I want to be a new me. Maybe changing the way I look will help with that. Besides, it's not like there's a convenient barber shop in every forth tree." He looked at Haku as the older boy laughed, and pursed his lips. _

"…_how do we fly…?"_

_He hesitantly reached out and took Haku's hand in his, making the other look at him questioningly even as he squeezed Sasuke's fingers in response. Sasuke managed a weak smile._

_**We just jump…**_

"_I'm sorry."_

…_**and forget how to fall.**_

_Haku blinked at him in surprise for a moment before he beamed, pulling Sasuke to him and wrapping him up in a hug. _

_**I will jump.**_

"_Apology accepted."_

_**And I will fly.**_

**End Flashback Eleven – Fly**

**The flashbacks are just for me to write all the fluff I want. Zabuza's being paternal. So cute. **

**Let me know what you thought? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	23. Rock Paper Scissors

**See? Update after update. Yeaaaaah.**

**Yes, yes. I'll get to Treacherous Heart soon. This story is just kinda speaking to me right now. **

**And the story unfolds...**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twelve – Rock. Paper. Scissors.**

The fight was fast-paced, deadly, and deliberate. Each man moved and shifted just enough to avoid attacks, deflect attacks from the other and to counterattack; no move was left wasted, and every inhale and exhale had purpose. Sasuke and the snake-man moved just enough to dodge each other, and just enough to strike to kill each other. It was ferocious and furious – a tangle of energy and strength that left nothing to chance. They danced around each other in a tight, careful, and simple (yet lethal) form. It vaguely reminded Inaré of two skilled competitors of rock, paper, scissors going against each other.

_In order to gain the upper hand in that scenario, you have to think not one or two, but three or four steps ahead of your opponent. But you must think quickly. Because you have a fifty-fifty chance of winning or losing after you both end in a draw ten times. The only way to win is to think ahead just the littlest bit more than your opponent; otherwise your scissors will get crushed by his rock and you lose. _

_Or in this case, by his creepy grin. This time, it's not 'best two out of three'. _

_Come on, Sasuke!_

Sasuke's expression was eerily calm, his entire body flowing and shifting as if he were boneless, like water as he bent his body forward around Orochimaru's fists and backwards to dodge a blade. He was calculating, thinking of the best way to kill the snake-man, looking for an opening as Orochimaru cackled the entire time, an insane grin on his face.

"You're fantastic, my precious thing!" He cooed as he ducked a swing before delivering one of his own. "I can't believe you really exist! I am going to have so much fun with you!"

But Sasuke refused to be distracted, not saying a word or even noises of battle despite any efforts Orochimaru made to be social. It made Haku nervous, how expressionless Sasuke was. Sure, he knew to some extent how to mask his thoughts during battle, and he was good at it too, but he wasn't _perfect_. At least not as completely as he was right now.

And though excellent at hand-to-hand combat though he was, under normal circumstances Sasuke would never allow himself to engage in such risky interaction for so long. Tai-jutsu was great, but Chakra was there for a reason!

_Maybe he's afraid that if he starts escalating, so will the Sannin. _He rationalized. But after a moment he shook his head. _Ah, but no. He can handle it. And maximum if he can't, we can. _He glanced upwards at the canopy. _I wonder if anyone else knows what's going on. _Troubled, he looked back to the battle. _We should help – we should, but we'd only be getting in the way at this point. When Sasuke's like this…_

Biting his lip, he reached over and took Inaré's hand in his. She squeezed his fingers reassuringly.

_He'd have no qualms putting a hand through our chests if we were in between him and his opponent. Even accidentally. _

"I know it's hard, Inaré," he breathed to her, knowing she was itching to jump in. His hold on her hand tightened to remind her of the danger not only Orochimaru was in, but they were in as well. "But we have to stay back. At least until we know Sasuke can't handle it anymore."

"But by then it might be too late," she whispered back in worry as she watched, unable to take her eyes from the fight. There wasn't even any jumping or leaping or fancy-pants back flipping involved. It was like they were fencing with their fists.

_Paper. Scissors. Rock. Scissors. Paper…_

_Come on, Sasuke. Get the jump on him already._

"Stop playing with him and just finish this, Sasuke…" she muttered beneath her breath.

As if Sasuke heard her, despite how soft the command had been, he suddenly seemed to speed up his pace, and he ducked beneath Orochimaru's arm and threw the other arm to the snake-man's side, creating his own opening.

Lifting up his palms and setting the balls of them together, he pressed his palms into Orochimaru's abdomen and released a massive blast of Chakra directly into the man's torso before he could react, sending him flying towards his snake to land hastily into a crouch, his entire body smoldering.

"Oh… just _lovely_," the snake-man cooed as he stood, the entire right side of his tunic blasted clean off and the skin beneath blackened. He licked his lips with a long, serpentine tongue. "You're making want you more and more by the minute. Is there any part of you that isn't just so _perfect_?"

Sasuke stayed silent, flexing the fingers of his right hand over and over again - the only obvious movement about him.

"How did he survive that?" Inaré breathed, gritting her teeth. "No way."

"He is Sannin, Inaré," Sasuke replied monotonously, his eyes still on Orochimaru as he lowered his hand. Even his voice sounded different somehow; deeper. Deader. Completely and totally apathetic in all aspects. Cold. It made Inaré swallow hard and shrink a little closer to Haku. "They don't hand that title out to just anyone. Besides…" the barest hint of a sneer crossed Sasuke's face, and he flexed the fingers of the other hand as it remained by his side. Besides that, no other part of him moved. His body was completely calm, completely in control of itself. It wasn't going to give anything away. "Have you ever tried to kill a snake? You have to chop the head up into a thousand pieces before it finally stops trying to bite you."

Orochimaru merely snickered.

"You sound like you have experience with this sort of thing," he commented with a grin. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and whatever was left of the previous hint of expression vanished from his face.

"I'm about to have a lot more," he replied simply, unmoving. Orochimaru's grin widened.

"We'll see about that, my little plaything," he cooed. "Although, this new persona of yours is simply fascinating, and I've heard some _very _interesting rumors about your team." His eyes twinkled. "I can't wait to see if they're true."

Haku's eyes widened.

_No. He can't be talking about-_

However, Sasuke wasn't shaken.

"You bore me with your chatter," he stated, face blank. "When I kill you, it will simply be out of monotony."

For the first time since their encounter, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed with something akin to anger.

"Watch yourself, _boy_," he stated, dashing forwards towards Sasuke, who stood there, unmoving. "I am more powerful than you could ever _dream–_"

Snakes burst from the ground at Sasuke's feet, wrapping themselves around his legs and pinning him to the earth before he could leap away, sinking their fangs into his legs. Pain wrenched across his face, making him grunt.

"No…" he breathed, baring his teeth. "Why can't I get away? Why can't I just poof away-?!"

"Now let's see what makes you so lifelike!" Orochimaru roared as he leaped into the air, diving for the teen. Inaré leaped forward, yelling Sasuke's name, but the mother snake immediately put herself in between, snapping at the two teenagers hungrily.

Desperately, Sasuke threw out wires, wrapping them around tree branches and roots and making a net above him, not to hold something in, but to keep something _out-_

Orochimaru belly-flopped onto the steel wires, the web creaking beneath his weight with his head in a space between the wires and arms outstretched towards Sasuke, nails sharp and gleaming.

For a moment, it looked like the wires might snap, but they held, and Orochimaru lay suspended a mere couple of feet above the teen's head as Sasuke looked up at him, his expression carefully controlled as they simply stared at each other for a moment. Sasuke began to move, started to think about getting those fucking snakes off from around his legs so he could actually get away from this _madman_-

But before he could Orochimaru spoke, making Sasuke's eyes go back to him.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, little plaything."

Suddenly Orochimaru's face was right in front of Sasuke's, but his body was _still in place _as arms still restrained by the net clamped onto him, nails digging into the teen's shoulders.

Orochimaru's mouth opened wide, wide, wide, and fangs sparkled out of the corner of Sasuke's eye.

He was _stretching _his limbs. As if they were made of Goddamn _silly putty_.

"AND NOW YOU'RE MINE!"

"SASUKE!"

_You got a fifty-fifty chance…_

_Rock. Paper. Scissors._

_You lose._

All calm and persona threw itself off a cliff in terror as Sasuke felt teeth sink into his left shoulder blade, and he let out a scream of agony that shook the birds from their perches and send the rodents into their holes as pain blasted through his system.

_This isn't just a bite. _He thought in panic, his mind reeling as he realized he was bending over backwards with the momentum of Orochimaru's attack, falling to the ground beneath him as ever muscle in his upper body quivered in suffering. The wires yanked themselves out of the trunks they had been anchored in with the force of the attack, falling around him uselessly. _What's happening to me? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!_

He let out another shriek as he hit the earth, the impact feeling like he had landed on a thousand needles as he struggled with the bigger male, flailing and writhing beneath him against the pain.

Chakra flowed through his system from the bite as Orochimaru sat like a brick atop him, burying his teeth deeper and deeper into the muscle as fire spread through Sasuke's veins, carrying the pain everywhere it went. Darkness began to creep at the corners of his vision, and he heaved and bucked in protest as he felt the poisonous energy creeping deeper and deeper into his system, towards…

"_NO_!" He screeched, pushing and pulling and clawing at the form on top of him. "NO! WHAT'RE YOU DOING TO ME? _WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!_ INARÉ! _HAKU_!"

_SAVE ME!_

He felt himself being pulled up into a sitting position as Orochimaru got up and clamped Sasuke to his torso, both of them on their knees with his teeth still buried in the teen's body as the Genin fought every moment of every second, beating the snake-man with blows that were powerful, but panicked, thus making them useless. That poisonous Chakra sunk down, down, down…

"No!" He begged, clutching and clawing at the Sanin because he knew he couldn't hold himself up anymore even if he _wanted to_. Fear coursed through his system as he realized where that energy was going. He didn't notice the purple aura he started to take on, the strange indigo markings that started appearing on his skin around Orochimaru's fangs. "No! Stop! Please, don't do that – don't go there, you don't know what you're doing-!"

The Chakra reached the very core of Sasuke's soul.

A tremendous blast of furious, powerful Chakra erupted from Sasuke's being at the foreign intruder, and every fiber of every muscle in Sasuke's body clenched up and he arched backwards and threw his arms back, turning stiff and rigorous in Orochimaru's arms as his mouth seemed to open wider than humanly possible, canines shining in the light-

A mighty, monstrous roar blasted through Sasuke's small human lungs and upwards towards the sky, so powerful it tore branches off trees in the canopy above and so terrifying that the massive snake turned on her metaphorical heels and fled, leaving and Inaré and Haku relatively unharmed. Orochimaru, withdrawing his teeth as he suddenly realized he might've just gone deaf in _both _ears, let alone just one, began to pull back to see what was going on.

"What the-"

Before he could, Sasuke was in motion, reaching forward and sending the teeth of his very large mouth directly into the crook of Orochimaru's neck, every newly-sharpened tooth biting down with all the strength the boy possessed as blood squirted violently as he grabbed hold of the man's shoulders.

The snake-man howled, partially in surprise and partially in pain as it felt like a massive beast was attempting to tear his throat out (needless to say, he was not expecting that reaction), and in rage the nails of his right hand elongated. With a powerful thrust, he sent all five of them into Sasuke's chest – not so far up as to pierce the heart and immediately kill the boy – but enough to pierce his lungs and rupture his esophagus.

"GET OFF ME!"

Even so, that only weakened the grip Sasuke had on him just enough so that the only way Orochimaru could get away was to give Sasuke what he wanted – a really decent chunk of the snake-man's throat. The result was a nasty ripping sound and a jettison of blood.

When he managed to pull away and put a hand to the rather large hole in his upper torso, he was covered in blood and so was Sasuke. Orochimaru gasped hard, blood dribbling down his chin, as he stared at the boy, who was facing downwards, hair that had fallen loose covering his face.

"I may have…" Orochimaru panted weakly as he lay there on the ground, managing to hold himself up with one hand. "…underestimated you…"

Sasuke's shoulder was black and purple and covered with blood from where Orochimaru had pierced it, the liquid also quickly spreading along the boy's chest from the puncture wounds with the purple aura almost completely dissipated, but as Sasuke – on his hands and knees – raised his eyes to look at the snake-man, something inside them had changed dramatically over the past few seconds, and Orochimaru's own widened.

Those were no longer the quivering, shaking eyes of the prey. They were the steady, unshaken eyes of a predator, and as Sasuke looked up through his bangs at the snake-man – the older man's blood smeared all over his lips and chin and nose and teeth, chunks of Orochimaru's flesh still trapped in between his teeth, with that mouth open and snarling and just aching to take another chunk out of the Sannin** –** the older ninja could see the certain blood lust in those unblinking golden-green eyes-

And then, did he see correctly? At the corners of those stretched lips that bared every blood-drenched tooth? A smile? Even as the boy's skin grew paler and paler the more blood he lost? The chunk of the snake-man's flesh sat half-eaten on the ground beneath Sasuke's shoulders, the bite-marks still clearly visible.

_**Two can play at that game.**_

Orochimaru's lips pressing into a fine line, he vanished, only splatters of blood remaining.

_Rock. Paper. Scissors._

_You lose._

**End Chapter Twelve – Rock. Paper. Scissors.**

**Is Sasuke a badass? Yes. Yes he is.**

**One of these days I'm going to draw that image to life, and it's going to be awesome.**

**In the meantime though, review and tell me how much you loved it? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	24. Flashback Twelve: Animals

**FLUUUUUUUFF AAAAAAAAH**

**I might decide to post these in increments of two. Just remember to say something about the non-flashback chapters in reviews as well. Because, honestly, I love the fluff, but I really wanna know what you think about what's happening in present-story-time. I want to know I'm not the only one gushing over it, lol.**

**You know. If that's not too much to request. e.e''**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twelve – Animals**

"_Why does he have to go alone?"_

"_Sasuke, don't argue. This is how we do it. Haku is better at sneaking into villages to get supplies."_

"_But how am I ever going to learn how to be subtle if I don't go? Besides, I don't want him to go by himself!"_

"_He can handle himself, Sasuke. Why are you being such a whiny little brat about this?"_

"_I'm not being a brat! And because I want to go too!"_

"_No, Sasuke. That's final."_

_Haku laughed, brushing through the hair he had let out of the bun as he donned the flowery kimono. Sasuke blinked as he gazed at his older companion, unaware that his cheeks were getting slightly red._

"_I don't get it. How come I've never thought you looked good in a kimono before now? Weirdo."_

_Haku blinked at him in surprise before giggling behind a hand. The first time Sasuke had seem him put on a dress, the boy had flipped out (well, as much as he could flip out while still considering himself a prisoner) and didn't speak to Haku for a week due to humiliation and sheer shock. But really, after the fifteenth time, Sasuke was over it and now he was beginning to… well, maybe even enjoy it._

_**Okay. Weird. So weird. This is Haku.**_

_**Yeah. And?**_

_Sasuke scowled at his inner voice, frowning at Haku as he ruffled the younger one's hair. _

"_You heard the man, dearheart," Haku stated in amusement. "Maybe next time, okay?"_

_The other frowned, but said nothing in response as he leaned forward and put his forehead into Haku's chest, a silent command for the older boy to play with Sasuke's hair. Smiling, Haku gladly did for a few minutes before ruffling the other's hair._

"_I'm going to go now, okay?" He stated as Sasuke looked up at him, the frown back on his face. Haku smiled at him. "I'll be back soon, I promise." Lifting his eyes, he nodded at Zabuza. "Be safe, please. Both of you." And with that, he was gone for the nearest town, Sasuke pouting after him. _

_Zabuza and Sasuke spent most of the afternoon practicing with Sasuke's Sharingan. Zabuza would get paper and a pen and draw something that Sasuke couldn't see. Sasuke would use his bloodline to mimic the movements of the pen and draw whatever Zabuza was drawing. Other times Zabuza would fake drawing lines, and Sasuke would have to recognize what kind of ticks Zabuza had that gave that falseness away and edit his movements accordingly, all the while trying to get the same picture Zabuza drew. Other times Sasuke would just watch the movements, map them out in his head, and then guess what Zabuza was drawing. _

"_You know, it would be a lot harder if you could draw anything else but stick figures," Sasuke teased him while they broke for toast and tea. Zabuza rolled his eyes._

"_Shut up, brat," he replied simply, taking a drink from his cup. "I was trained to be a killer, not a fucking hippie."_

_Setting down his cup, Sasuke looked up at him curiously._

"_I always used to hear stories about you," he admitted simply, making Zabuza raise an eyebrow at him. "How you became a ninja. The horror you had to go through. Did it haunt you at all? What you did to those other kids?"_

_Zabuza gazed at him with a blank expression for a moment before sighing and shifting on the couch in front of Sasuke, switching positions and relaxing again._

"_They don't do that anymore, from what I've heard," he replied. "Shame too. Sure, they got rid of hundreds of candidates, but in return they got the best. Either that or the absurdly lucky. In my case, it was the best. The fiercest. The most 'demonic'." He shrugged. "I should've felt bad, I guess. For a while I thought I did. But it was either killed or be killed that day. If I didn't kill them they would've killed me, and the gods knew they weren't fucking better than me. Those whiny little bitches. They didn't deserve the honor of killing me. And I wasn't about to give it to them. Put a bunch of fucking normal people who've never harmed a single person in their life in a single room, hand them a bunch of weapons and tell them 'if there isn't one left standing out of the lot of you in half an hour, all of you are gonna die', then there's going to be a mass fuckton of bloodshed. And that's just involving normal people. Civilians. We weren't normal people. We were training to be killers. We knew it was coming. Kinda. The school was just more successful at doing it than most places." Pausing, he looked away, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, not having expected this long of a response. **What did I do to deserve this?** "I did what I had to. And I don't feel bad." He looked back over to Sasuke after a moment, whose gaze had lowered to stare into his teacup. "You shouldn't either. We do what we have to in order to survive. That is everyone's purpose for existence. Survival. Survival and reproduction. That's it."_

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him._

"_If that's the case, why didn't you just bang every hooker you could find until one told you she was pregnant and then kill yourself?" He asked incredulously, a soft scowl on his face. Zabuza laughed._

"_I was built to survive, not to reproduce," he replied in amusement. "I was brought into this world to become a killer. My parents knew it, my teacher knew it, I knew it. Killing those kids was just a tribute to what I was made for. It solidified my purpose. It made me feel alive. I was just doing what the Gods bade me."_

_Sasuke's lips pressed into a fine, pale line as he listened to Zabuza, eyes stony and cold. _

"_I am not a killer," he stated simply, coolly. Zabuza looked over at him with a laughing eye and grinned._

"_Sasuke, you've killed. You're a killer," he replied plainly. "Everyone's a killer. They just don't know it yet."_

"_Or maybe they do know it," Sasuke breathed in thought, staring at the table in between them. "Maybe they do know it and just refuse to admit it."_

"_That's more like it," his teacher replied, taking another swig of his tea like it was ale. "Everyone's capable of murder. The only ones that aren't have no arms and no legs and no brain. It's civilization. Society. Roads. Television. Sliced bread. Those are the things that fool people into thinking that they're better than murderers. But they're not. No one is. And all it takes is one well-placed disaster for mothers and fathers to start eating the children that they looooooved so much." Zabuza made a mock-pouty face, making Sasuke smile lightly, before he dropped the expression and shrugged. "We're animals. Only animals. Someone does something horrible like kills a man… or seventeen, and the world thinks he's crazy." He grinned with those pointed teeth of his, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if this is what he had really asked for when he had asked the initial question. "But really they're the crazy ones. He's just more in tune with himself and his nature than they ever could be. Everyone thinks we're better than the dogs we chain up because we have opposable thumbs and can open doors, and speak languages. Because we can invent stuff with our 'highly evolved brains'. Because we're 'better than instinct'. We're not top of the food chain because of our ability to do calculus. We're there because __**instinct **__made us the most vicious creature on the face of the fucking planet. The instinct to conquer and impose our might upon others-"_

"_The instinct to kill all joy, destroy all hope," Sasuke murmured softly, his eyes flickering back up to Zabuza as the older man stopped speaking, finally seeming to realize that he had been ranting. "Yeah," he breathed softly, eyes deep with something unspoken. "I know what you mean."_

_Zabuza pursed his lips as he saw the look in Sasuke's eyes and looked away, remaining silent. _

"_We're just animals," Sasuke continued breathlessly, barely audible. "Regardless of how many fancy castles we build, they're still just caves to hide in." _

_He understood what Zabuza spoke of. All of it. It didn't make him sad, per say. At least not for himself. He knew the truth. He had seen that cruel truth with his own eyes. He heard it and understood it. At least the best he could. _

_His teacher's gaze became solemn, and nodded. _

"_Yeah," he replied simply._

_There was long silence between them as they both contemplated the discussion they just had, both of them wondering if it had been too much._

"_Sasuke," Zabuza finally spoke softly, making the younger boy look up at him. The man looked at him with an even gaze. "I believe you can make the right choice. I believe you have the power, that if you were one of those normal people to get shoved into that room, you wouldn't kill the people inside. You would tell everyone to hang on, bust a Sasuke-sized hole in the wall and kill all of the twisted fucks who put those people there in that room in the first place."_

"_I'd kill the guys with the torches…" Sasuke realized with a smile, that smile turning into a beam of pride and pleasure at Zabuza's words. Zabuza smiled and nodded at him._

"_Yeah, the guys with the torches," he replied in agreement, not really understanding the reference before continuing. "Sasuke. I enjoyed killing all of those kids. You wouldn't. Your heart is in the right place. Mine isn't." _

_Sasuke was grown-up to recognize what a serious admission this was, even though Zabuza spoke of it plainly. The amusement died from his eyes at the words and he simply gazed at the older man for a moment before replying._

"_It can be," he murmured, voice so soft it was barely above a whisper. Zabuza blinked in mild confusion at him as Sasuke continued. "People… can't change, don't change, but you have." He shrugged. "I don't know if it's because of Haku, or me, or what's been going on lately, or all of the above, but I do know that you're different from before. Your spikes seem... a little more rounded at the tips compared to when we first met. I don't feel like you're going to pierce me in the heart if I get too close anymore. I feel like they're going to reach behind me, over my shoulder and stab whoever's been chasing me. I feel like if I ever got in over my head with something I couldn't handle, you would be there to help me. Maybe even save me." He gave Zabuza a soft, sincere, sad smile. "I wish my father had been more like you."_

_One great admission deserved another. Sasuke knew that this was a legendarily rare chance to make Zabuza a little less icy, a little more caring, than he had been before. And it was the truth. He felt safe, beneath this roof, which an infamous rogue serial-killer insane ninja sleeping in the room next to him. The only time he felt anything close to this level of safety were those nights when it was raining, thunder crashing outside, when he would crawl into his big brother's bed, and Itachi would stroke his hair and reassure him quietly until he fell asleep again._

_That seemed like such a long time ago._

_Zabuza could only stare at him in shock for a moment, unable to answer right away. He knew perfectly well who Sasuke's father was, what kind of man. Chief of Konoha's police force – and an Uchiha with a prodigal son at that – was a famous man in all the ninja countries. He knew what kind of man Sasuke's father was._

_And yet…_

_**Sasuke, you can't know how much I care about you. You can't.**_

_Zabuza slowly swallowed as Sasuke gazed at him, drinking in Zabuza's subtle responses._

_**It might scare you, how much I care. How much I worry. But I can't help it.**_

_His Sharingan wasn't even activated, and he could tell. _

_**Not even Haku can look at me the way you do. Even with his big damned dole eyes.**_

_Sasuke's smile widened a little bit in reassurance as the silence seemed to stretch longer and longer. _

_**He almost looks like…**_

_Zabuza closed his eyes._

…_**he's about to cry…**_

_Then Zabuza smirked and chuckled, pulling himself back together as the moment of stillness between them broke. _

"_Yeah, I get that a lot," he replied mock arrogance, flexing the muscles in a single arm dramatically and making Sasuke laugh, leaning back against the loveseat. "Yeah, you wish your dad was as amazing as me."_

"_Mmhm," Sasuke murmured in amusement as he drank more tea, smiling over the rim of the cup. _

"_Oh, and tell Haku to quit giving you so many books to read," Zabuza added, making Sasuke's smile widen. "Your vocabulary's getting way too advanced for your age." _

"_I can't help it if you don't know how to read, Zabuza."_

"_Yes I do!"_

_It was such an interesting situation he found himself in, Sasuke realized as they sat there, the serious discussion for the day over. An abandoned boy that never knew his family, a kidnapped boy with some serious family issues, and a deranged psychopath with a REALLY big fucking sword finding happiness together under one roof, running from the law and enjoying every moment together; it was certainly, certainly interesting. If sitcoms existed in this world, their situation would definitely make a good one._

_And as Haku returned from a successful shopping trip to see Zabuza and Sasuke sitting in front of the fire playing Go, Sasuke found he didn't mind one bit. _

_**I bet no one in the world is as happy as we are.**_

"_Well don't just sit there; help me unpack! We're having onigiri!" _

"_Sweet! I love onigiri!"_

"_Haha, I know Sasuke. That's why I got it."_

_What was it about being related by blood that just felt the need to __**fuck **__with things? There they were, three people completely unrelated, and yet they were all willing to die for each other. Sasuke could tell the way Haku massaged Zabuza's sore back after dinner, the way Zabuza continued to play board games with the youngest male even though he __**insisted**__ that he hated them, and what Sasuke felt in his own heart. How loving Fate was, to bring three people together that completed each other so perfectly? How compassionate it was to make a whole, solid being out of broken, shattered parts?_

"_We're going to need to move from here soon. Now that winter is gone and the ice has melted they'll be looking for us again."_

_"Yeah, I know, Haku. We'll start making plans tomorrow."_

_He loved his mother. He loved his father. He even loved his brother. He knew that. And yet… he loved them nothing like he loved Haku and Zabuza. _

"_Okay, that's enough! I quit! I hate this game!"_

"_Haha, would you rather play cards instead, Zabuza?"_

_In his parents' insistence on perfection, there grew seeds of hatred and misery. And yet here, in the mists of imperfection, broken dreams and screwed up lives, happiness hid itself away in a tiny little shack nestled between the trees in the deepest part of a forest no one dared venture in during the winter, its small windows alight with the flames crackling inside. _

"_Where are we going to go from here?"_

"_I don't know, dearheart. The ocean maybe? The port cities? Maybe we can hop aboard a ship and sail to the far side of the world, away from everything. To a new land. Would you like that?"_

_Sasuke laid his head on Haku's lap as the darkness of the night began to beat its chilly fists on the outside walls of the cabin, smiling contently and closing his eyes as Haku began playing with his hair, Zabuza sitting on the sofa next to them where they sat on the wooden floor. _

"_I've never been to the ocean before," he murmured sleepily, still with that slight smile. "Sounds like an adventure."_

_And as Sasuke fell asleep in his lap, Haku could only smile down at him._

"_Yes," he breathed softly, eyes shining as Zabuza looked on in silence. "Yes it does."_

**End Flashback Twelve – Animals**

**WAAAAAH! 8_D Yeah, I figured Zabuza deserved to get some bonding time in with our favorite dark-haired wonder. **

**Okay, so a couple of things.**

**If someone realizes where that obscure 'guys with the torches' reference comes from, omg, I will adore you forever and a half. For a few lifetimes. Seriously. **

**Also, I understand that in the actual cannon Sasuke does go to the ocean. Kinda sorta. But in this particular case, Team Seven's first interaction with Zabuza happens before they reach the shore, while they're still a little bit inland, so Sasuke never got a chance. **

**Did you enjoy? Well, please let me know! Review! Pretty pweaaaase? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	25. Blue, Blue Eyes

**Hello everyone!**

**I love this story. I love writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.**

**And thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed since I poked my head out again. I'll go reply to you guys right after I upload the next installments. **

**If you wrote a review that hasn't been responded to after tonight, send me a message and give the chapter number that you reviewed and I'll go read your review, gush over it, and reply. I feel so awful that I haven't been giving you lovely people the love you deserve.**

**Wow. And for about fifteen seconds I thought there was an 'i' in deserve. I am retarded. Thank Pocky for spell-check. Dx **

**Please enjoy! I know I am!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Thirteen – Blue, Blue Eyes**

"AAAAAAH!"

As soon as Orochimaru was out of sight the sudden surge of power faded from Sasuke's limbs, and he fell forehead first into the ground as the pain that had been forced back reemerged full force, screaming.

"SASUKE!"

His team rushed to him to help, but they couldn't get a grip on him as he screamed and shrieked and flailed, tossing back and forth along the bloodstained grass and getting it everywhere as he kept bleeding, bleeding, bleeding.

But the pain wasn't from the wounds in his chest (even though those were horrible). The terror in his eyes wasn't from the idea that he could bleed out and die (even though that'd be quite the gruesome way to die). As Inaré and Haku kneeled next to him, dodging panicked swats and sharp nails, trying to calm him down and trying to get some sense into him, demons clawed at his eyes while imps pulled at his hair, cackling all the while. The world he saw was dark and shadowy, and the screams he heard in his ears weren't his own, but of his parents.

"NO!" He begged at the top of his lungs, tears leaking out of his shut eyelids as those indigo markings crept along his skin, spreading their sickness. "NO! NOT AGAIN! PLEASE NOT AGAIN!"

_What's he talking about? _Haku thought frantically, the heart in his throat making it very difficult to swallow as he and Inaré tried to pin him down without hurting him even more.

"Sasuke, please!" He cried to his teammate as Sasuke's nails caught Inaré along the cheek, making her yelp in surprise. "Please, calm down!"

Then he realized that Sasuke was in so much terror that he was forgetting to breathe. His chest moved up and down, convulsed madly, but he gasped shallowly and quickly. He could see Sasuke's lips beginning to turn blue.

_He's suffocating. _Haku realized in fear. _We need Zabuza. I have no idea what this is._

Blood filled Sasuke's vision as he continued to scream senselessly. Light shined off steel as he was held down despite his vicious struggling, red demon eyes peering at him from the shadows of his vision.

_No. Not again. I was over this. I was past this. I'm healed. God, please, not again._

"NO! I'M HEALED! I'M BETTER! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS ANYMORE! I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER ANYMORE! I DIDN'T WANT THIS! STOP IT! STOP MAKING ME WATCH THIS!"

Haku's eyes widened.

_No. He must be reliving… _

_Sasuke!_

"_I did all this for you, Sasuke…"_

"NO!"

Suddenly a blaze of fiery red light seared through that shadowy terror, and Sasuke abruptly found himself staring into bright blue eyes as the demons around him were incinerated, a hand clamped tightly around the wrist of his outstretched arm and another palm settled decisively on his chest, atop the puncture wounds.

Sasuke couldn't breathe as he stared into the eyes of Naruto Uzumaki, his eyes wide and bloodshot and full of tears and mouth open as he stared up at the other teenager, the muscle of his lower lip quivering. For that instant, there was no one else in the world.

_It was him. _He realized. _His energy. That blast of fire… _

He tried to speak but he couldn't. He barely managed to register the fact that Chakra was fading from his outstretched arm, which was just a couple of inches from Naruto's temple. The smell of burned hair tried its best to singe his nostrils. He could feel Haku and Inaré on either side of him, but couldn't see them.

_Did I… did I just…?_

_Did I just almost __**kill **__Naruto?_

As the Chakra completely faded away, Naruto released Sasuke's wrist, and Sasuke let the arm fall limp at his side as Naruto took his face in both hands, and the black-haired teen could feel an arm at his back, _knew _that one of the other two was holding him up as Naruto gazed at him. Sasuke couldn't look away, mesmerized. Those eyes. Those _eyes_.

But they were different from Orochimaru's. Where fear had been chased away from, warmth nestled contently, and Sasuke could barely feel his cheeks growing warm.

"I'm glad you're okay," Naruto told him softly. "I would hate it if you couldn't keep our appointment for ramen."

_Ramen. Always for the food, this idiot. _

The thought made a weak, genuinely beaming smile creep along Sasuke's lips as he gazed at the other, but then the pain from the wounds raised a hand above the crowd of the other things wrong with him and waved it tentatively, and the smile fell from his face as his expression twisted in pain, and his head tipped backwards in Naruto's grasp.

_Oh. It hurts. Everything hurts._

Naruto seemed to realize that their moment was over, and he hastily released Sasuke's face and backed away as Inaré and Haku flocked around Sasuke, Inaré petting him and cooing into his ear as Haku started to survey his wounds.

Sasuke whimpered, pulling away from Haku's touch and turning his back to the older male, turning onto his side and curling up into a ball as he buried his face in the side of Inaré's thigh, his crying muffled by the muscle. Her lips pursed worriedly as she looked up at Haku.

"We need to get him out of here," she told Haku, who quickly dismissed the panged feelings that emerged in his heart when Sasuke turned away. "Either way, we'll have to wait until next year to become Chunin."

_It's okay. That just means he trusts you enough to show his back to you. _

"Ah, yes," he mumbled, gathering himself. "We need to get him help. We don't have the supplies-"

"Naruto!"

The two plus Team Seven looked over to see Kakashi leaping from a tree branch, Anko and Iruka also with him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried, running over to him. Sai followed, but Naruto stayed where he stood, halfway in between Sasuke's team and his team. For one second, he wasn't entirely sure which direction to go, and unnatural panic crept into his heart.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi asked, saving him the trouble as he walked over. "We got news of commotion at the second test site and a giant snake-"

"It was Orochimaru," Inaré stated before Naruto could even open his mouth, making Kakashi look over at her. Her lips were pressed into a fine line. "The snake-master. He was after Sasuke. Bit 'im."

Kakashi's single eye went wide. As did the other two pairs.

"He _bit _him?" He asked in shock. "You're sure?"

Inaré raised an annoyed eyebrow.

"_Yes_," she replied, restraining from offering a scathingly sarcastic comment. "It was pretty difficult to miss."

"He needs help," Haku told Kakashi, getting to the point. "Sasuke bit him back. And then the Sannin stabbed him. It sent him into some kind of terror-filled dream. We need to get him out of this forest and get him treatment."

As he spoke Kakashi headed over and shooed Inaré out of the way, kneeling down next to Sasuke.

_Gods… _he thought in horror. _Gods, there's blood everywhere._

"It's okay…" he breathed to Sasuke as he reached for the young teen. Sasuke reflexively slapped his hand away and turned over onto his other side closer to Haku, his eyebrows furrowed in pain. But as he did, he allowed Kakashi to see what Orochimaru had placed upon his skin. The Jounin drew a shaky breath.

"No…" he breathed softly. "Not this. The Curse Mark."

"The what?" Inaré asked. Without answering, Kakashi scooped Sasuke up in his arms, despite the younger man's protests. Quickly though, resting against Kakashi's warm chest, Sasuke's painful whining lessened to almost silent whimpering. That big broad chest reminded him of someone…

"Naruto, finish the test," he told his student before looking to Inaré and Haku. "You two. Come with me. He's going to want you there with him." He looked to Iruka. "We need their teacher informed. Fetch him." Iruka nodded solemnly and vanished. Kakashi then looked to Anko. "Anko, I'm going to need you for this too. But first we have to alert the Hokage." Silent, she nodded and disappeared as well. Kakashi turned back to Naruto, who looked about ready to violently protest being left behind. "I'll let you know how he is as soon as I know. Okay?"

Naruto's lips pursed angrily for a moment, but then the line of his eyebrows smoothed over and he turned his face away, nodding silently.

Kakashi's single eye solemn and almost sad, he turned his back on his team and vanished.

**End Chapter Thirteen – Blue, Blue Eyes**

**I hope you liked! Review? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	26. Flashback Thirteen: Andora

**Here is the flashback!**

**Yay! An actual plot! (Kind of)**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Thirteen – Andora**

"_Come on, Sasuke, come on!"_

_He lifted his head above the water, gasped, and ducked his face beneath the water again, his arms and legs pumping._

_Gods, that water was cold. _

"_Just a little more, Sasuke! Thirty more seconds!"_

_**I've already been doing this for an hour, Haku. **__He thought miserably. __**Thirty more seconds is agony.**_

"_And time! Okay Sasuke, come on up!"_

_Sasuke gasped, pushing his hand against the surface of the water and pushing himself atop it, his Chakra allowing him to settle upon the surface of the river as he managed to pull himself into a stand._

"_Start walking Sasuke, or you're going to be left behind!"_

_Stumbling forward at the reminder, Sasuke began to walk along the surface of the water, naked except for his boxers and panting heavily. _

"_Haku, I'm freezing," he commented. Haku smiled from where he sat on the boat next to the younger male._

"_I'm sure you are," he replied pleasantly. "Use your Chakra to warm you up. Just don't forget to keep the Chakra flow constant at the bottoms of your feet. I'd hate for you to fall in again."_

"_I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to swim for an entire hour the next time," he stated. "Just pull me back into the boat before I drown, okay?"_

"_You're of the Country of Water, brat," Zabuza reminded him icily from where he stood on the boat, keeping an eye out. "Drowning would be disgraceful."_

"_Teach me that bubble thing and I never will," Sasuke shot back, making Zabuza take a moment to scowl at him. The youngest male shook his head. "You know what, on second thought, I think I'm okay just freezing to death."_

_Haku laughed lightly as Zabuza rolled his eyes. _

"_So where are we going?" Sasuke asked as he walked alongside the boat. "Isn't a river kind of… obvious?" _

"_Yes, if it were any other river," Haku replied with a smile. "This river is full is man-eating eels!"_

_Sasuke almost fell in __**again**__._

"_And you were letting me SWIM IN IT?"_

"_Relax, Sasuke," Haku answered easily. "The eels aren't active until late afternoon. It's still early morning. Besides, do you think we'd let anything happen to you? What do you think the nets are for?"_

"_I was under the impression we were going fishing," Sasuke replied meekly, eying the water with greater intensity. Zabuza shrugged._

"_Yeah, for __**eel**__," he stated. "Fall in again, Sasuke. I'm getting hungry."_

_Sasuke mimed the words back at his teacher irritably and looked away with a scowl, making Zabuza and Haku share an amused look before they resumed watch._

"_We're going to a village that's declared itself neutral in all affairs of ninjas, known as Andora," Haku continued, answering Sasuke's initial question. "As a result, it's become sort of a refuge for outlaws and vandals. We should be safe there until next winter when we can reenter the forest and not worry about being hunted."_

"_Yep, that's the plan," Zabuza replied dryly. "It's just getting there that's the hard part. Every single country has ninjas stationed around the outskirts of the village, as close as they can get without violating the neutral laws. If we manage to get past them and into the village, then it'll be getting out that's going to be the pain."_

"_Sounds like a death trap," Sasuke panned in disbelief. "Are we sure it's a good idea to go there?"_

"_Sasuke, that place will be like a feast for your Sharingan," Haku told him. "Little skirmishes break out all the time. Even tiny fights can be goldmines for that kind of bloodline. You could learn so much there. You already know all of my tricks. It's time you got some new ones."_

"_How are we going to get in, though?" Sasuke asked. "You said the entire village is surrounded, right?"_

"_I've heard that there's an underground passage into the village, through a mountain," Zabuza replied. "It's still used to smuggle illegal drugs and slaves. But it's dangerous."_

"_More dangerous than enemy ninja who want our heads?" Sasuke asked incredulously. Zabuza grinned at him._

"_Exactly."_

* * *

_They went ashore right as afternoon came around, and Zabuza took the boat into the middle of the river and sank it, taking no chances. No one could have any clue that someone had been at this portion of the river. _

_They were getting close. _

"_Be on your guard," Zabuza told them as they left the riverbanks and headed into the trees. "There are a lot of shady people around these parts, and the closer we get to the mountain the worse they're going to get. Stay close; keep an eye on your weapons."_

"_Don't worry, Zabuza," Sasuke quipped with a smile. "All you need to do is say hello and show 'em your pearly whites."_

"_Stick a cork in it, Sasuke," Zabuza replied, making the boy grin. "You thought the other forest during the summer was bad? This place is ten times worse." The expression faded from Sasuke's face, and he glanced at Haku worriedly. "Here there may be ninjas, but they're not held to any code of honor or morals. They're as seedy as they get in these parts. Don't talk to anyone unless absolutely necessary, and don't go showing off your bloodline. They'll take those eyes from you the instant they can. _

_Sasuke swallowed, and Haku placed a hand on his shoulder._

"_Don't worry, we have each other," Haku cooed comfortingly. "We'll be okay. I'll protect you."_

_The youngest boy looked up at Haku and smiled, reaching out to hold his hand._

"_And I'll protect you," he breathed, making Haku smile broadly back. Zabuza pushed at them a little bit, making them stumble and break apart._

"_None of that while we're here," he told them. "You can be all mushy gushy when we have four walls, closed blinds and a locked door. Until then, look tough."_

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Haku and his very feminine features in disbelief. Haku merely shrugged. _

"_They'll learn the instant they try to tangle with us," Haku explained easily. "I'm on guard. But I'm not worried."_

_Sasuke smiled. _

_**That's a good way to put it.**_

_Slowly, they made their way up through the forest to the base of the mountain, where their new journey would begin._

**End Flashback Thirteen – Andora**

**Here is the flashback! You get one more chapter, because you guys are that awesome. **

**And yes. I am just pulling this 'Andora' place right out of my ass. :D**

**Review?**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	27. Sharp Containment

**Here is the final upload for the night. ****I feel better about myself if I end the uploads on current time instead of flashback, lol. Just feels like the story has more momentum. **

**Enjoy. 8D_**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Fourteen – Sharp Containment**

"He needs to go back to his village immediately. He can't stay here."

"He can't be transported in his condition, Ibiki. He needs to stay."

"You remember what you just told us, don't you Kakashi? He can't stay here. His team needs to drop from the exams and–"

"NO!" Kakashi slammed his fist onto the table in front of him, making everybody in the room except the Hokage jump. The Jounin was not one for outward acts of anger, but his single eye continued to blaze as he resumed speaking. "He needs to stay here. He and his team need to stay in the exams. Sending them off because we're afraid will not help them. We need to know why Orochimaru wants Sasuke Terranova. Why not someone from our village? Why a foreigner? Why these exams? What does he want with that boy? You think sending them off is going to be better for them? Their village can't protect them more than we can. The knowledge they have of Orochimaru is only from tales and stories and legends. We know what he's capable of. We know what he may or may not be prepared to do. Sasuke and his team are safest _here_. Until we know what Orochimaru really wants, they need to stay."

Everyone looked to the Hokage silently for confirmation. After a moment, he nodded.

"I agree with Kakashi," he stated simply, and everyone seemed to sigh and take a step back from their defensive positions with the words. "The trip back to their homeland alone will make them more vulnerable to Orochimaru, and the boy is not fit to travel in his condition." He opened his eyes, remembering the fierce battle he had watched in his crystal ball. "I know perfectly well why Orochimaru may want the boy, but that not be the reason why he actually does. Sasuke Terranova has way too much power than he should. The other two on his team pale in comparison, and yet they're able to control him. We need them here. Not just to protect them, but to find out more. The Village Hidden in the Mist has never sent such incredible prospects before. Something has changed. And we should find out what." The Hokage nodded. "Keep them here. Have someone watch the child at all times. We will not continue the exams until he is fit to resume them himself."

Just then another ninja burst through the door to the meeting, exclaiming,

"Hokage-sama! There's a tiger, I tried to stop it–"

"Let it go where it wishes. She's Sasuke's pet."

The Hokage stood as another man entered the room, all but shoving the other ninja aside.

"Ah, Zabuza. Good to see you've come so quickly."

"I arrived as soon as I was told," he replied, the scarf wrapped around his lower jaw. His sword wasn't present, but everyone knew he had the power to summon it to his person on a whim. Kakashi in particular eyed him in something akin to distrust. Probably very understandably. "I just left my student. Seems he's stable enough."

"We've patched him up; he'll be fine in time" Kakashi replied before the Hokage could speak. "Zabuza, I never got the chance to ask. What changed your mind? I figured a man such as yourself liked the terror-filled life of a criminal."

Zabuza's eyes crinkled a little bit, but no one could tell if he was smiling or scowling. His reply sounded pleasant enough,

"Don't be fooled; I'm still a criminal," he stated, almost in amusement. "It's been four years since our little tussle, Kakashi. Don't tell me you're still sour about being trapped. In a _bubble_."

Kakashi scowled slightly from behind the mask.

"You killed the last remaining Uchiha this village had. My _student_. He was ten years old, and you slaughtered him like he was a fully-fledged adult."

Anko's lips pursed at the obvious hostility from Kakashi's person, and the Hokage looked on sadly, knowing perfectly why Kakashi was getting so defensive.

_Poor Naruto wasn't the only one that took the Uchiha's death harder than he should have..._

"Relax, Kakashi," Zabuza responded easily, looking completely guiltless. "There's another one out there, from what I hear. You just have to convince the insane clan-killing psycho to come back and start having sex with all the women who aren't afraid to die. Yeah, we'll see how that turns out." He shrugged. "The world is better off without Uchihas. They were all a bit crazy, from what I've heard."

"Interesting, though," Anko quipped, making Zabuza raise an eyebrow at her. "How interesting it is that your boy is named Sasuke too." Zabuza chuckled.

"Well, Sasuke is quite the common name. Everyone wishes their little boy will one day hold the same greatness as an ancient samurai-turned-king."

Anko's eyes sharpened.

"Must make you think about the boy you killed every day."

"Anko," Ibiki snapped irritably. "We are not here to interrogate the man. He has been officially proclaimed a teacher for the Village Hidden in the Mist. Therefore we must treat him with the same respect as we do all other teachers. I can't believe you would-"

"I do think about him." The admission made Ibiki stop short, and everyone turned their attentions back to Zabuza. The man's eyes were something close to expressionless, but not quite, as he spoke. "He put up quite the fight, for a little squirt. He had a lot of potential. A lot of heart. But then I pinned him up against a tree, and shoved my sword right through his gut, and he looked at me with such hatred in his eyes." His gaze went to Kakashi, whose fingers had curled into tight fists to keep from tearing the man's throat out. "He told me that it couldn't end this way. That he had a mission. A job to do. Revenge, he told me. He had to avenge his family. That was his mission." Zabuza grinned from beneath the scarf. "And then I told him that revenge was stupid, and if that was his mission, then he most certainly failed. And then he died, pinned to that tree. I wish you could've seen it." Zabuza's eyes seemed to twinkle. "My student reminds me of that day, every day. And I'm glad for it. Because it was beautiful. Touching, really."

Before Kakashi could make for Zabuza's heart, a voice came from the stairwell.

"I knew I heard you bragging about something petty, Zabuza-sensei."

Everyone looked over to see Sasuke, bare-chested and chest heavily wrapped in bandages as he leaned equally heavily onto Dagina's broad back, the creature purring nonstop. Patches of fur were missing, and bandages covered those bare patches, and she had a mild limp, but the tiger seemed to sustain no lasting injuries from her brawl with the snakes. Zabuza moved before Kakashi could, moving to the teen's side.

"Sasuke, you're all right."

"For now," Sasuke replied pleasantly, looking up at Zabuza with childlike affection as he gingerly touched the bandages. "The nails weren't poisoned, at least."

"How did you find this room?" Ibiki demanded as everyone else looked on in awe. Kakashi, however, couldn't get over Sasuke's words.

_Petty. _He thought in numb shock. _He said 'petty'. _

"My baby," Sasuke replied, rubbing his hand affectionately along Dagin's flank as he managed to stand unassisted, the animal never leaving his side. "She told me that my teacher had visited me but left, so I told her to take me to him." His eyes moved to absorb the guarded expressions of everyone in the room. "I assume you're talking about my fate, then?" He asked calmly, completely unsurprised. "And I also assume you've decided that I'm to stay?" He smiled, nodding. "Good. I fully agree."

"How did you know?" Anko asked in awe. _This kid can't be THAT sharp._

Sasuke's smile broadened.

"Being a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist has a lot more to deal with politics than I'll care to admit," he stated simply. "The fact is that a dangerous man that you want dead has expressed an interest in me, which means he'll likely show up again to finish the job, giving you an opportunity to finish _him_. So… with that comes the decision that sending me away is stupid. At least while I'm here you can keep an eye on me and try to figure out what Orochimaru's true motive is. As already stated, I approve. I'm tired of chasing cats." The last little bit had a sharp tint of bitterness to it.

"What the hell did that beast do to you?" Zabuza growled suddenly as he jerked Sasuke's right shoulder a little bit more forward so he could take a good look at the left one. Sasuke allowed his teacher to manipulate him without a murmur of protest, though he did wince when Zabuza ran a finger along the angry purple and red mark.

"Ah, Sensei…" he pouted. "It's still tender."

Zabuza's hand immediately flinched away, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the action as everyone else was still stuck on the fact that, yeah, this kid was _that _sharp.

"That's what he did to you?" Zabuza asked, scowling. "As if stabbing you five time wasn't enough?"

"Well, the stabbing was actually after the biting me. Which was before the me biting him back," Sasuke corrected dryly, making Zabuza grin lopsidedly behind the scarf. "So I'm pretty sure the getting stabbed five times was purely my fault."

"Good boy," he stated in pride, turning his student so that he could squat down and run a hand across his bloodstained bandages. "Looks like these are healing as well." He clapped Sasuke on the uninjured shoulder. "You should be good soon."

"Has the Curse Mark done anything besides sting?" Kakashi asked, making Sasuke look up at him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"It throbs too," the teen replied wryly. "And pulses. And burns. You know. All that unpleasant stuff. What do you mean?"

"Has it changed color? Spread?" Kakashi clarified. Sasuke shook his head.

"Not since it was initially placed. Which I'm assuming was about seven hours ago, considering the lack of daylight." He turned back to the adults. "Where's my team? And why has it taken so long to start talking about this? I figured deciding what to do with a world-class criminal would be more important than doing laundry or sorting the mail."

"Watch yourself, brat," Ibiki snarled. "You're in the presence of the Hokage."

"And he is not _my _Hokage," Sasuke replied with almost equal menace. "I just got stabbed. What's _your _excuse? Besides the lack of a good plastic surgeon?" At his feet, Dagina growled loudly, and everyone could tell by the way Zabuza was standing that he sided with his student.

"We've been trying to find Orochimaru," the Hokage admitted, immediately breaking the tension. "He doesn't just _decide _anything. The fact that he chose a member of another village tells us he's been watching you for a very long time. Probably a few years. But the fact that he decided to strike during the exams instead of on your way here when you were more vulnerable tells us something else entirely. His goal isn't just you, but something else with the village. He must have spies here that are feeding him information. We were trying to find those spies and hopefully find out why Orochimaru wants you."

"But you didn't succeed," Sasuke answered simply, a statement, not a question. Hokage shook his head, and smiled a little.

"If we did, we wouldn't have had the previous conversation," he responded tiredly. "Whoever they are, they're very good."

"So… what now?" Sasuke asked tentatively. Kakashi sighed, standing up straight from where he had been leaning against the wall.

"Tomorrow, we're going to contain that Curse Mark," he stated. "It reacts to emotions, specifically negative ones. It's the way Orochimaru hopes to gain control over you. It's said that's the mark he uses to identify his prodigies to the rest of his people." Out of the corner of Sasuke's eye, he saw Anko shift uncomfortably. "The more negative emotions you feel, the more powerful that mark becomes. It comes with its own type of Chakra, part of Orochimaru's own being; something that's designed to take control of the host's Chakra and use it to take control of the host. The angrier or more hateful you get, the more powerful it will become, and the more you will become Orochimaru's slave. We need to seal away both the Curse Mark and the Chakra it emits. Even if you have perfect control of your emotions, just letting it sit there will eventually poison you enough to make you lose that control, and thus lose yourself."

"Sounds lovely," Sasuke replied, a wry scowl on his face. "How would we do that?"

"Have you heard of the great Tailed Demons?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

"Obviously," he answered. "They're the most feared spirits on the face of the planet."

"It will be similar to sealing one of those away in a person," Kakashi explained. "We'll need to do it as soon as possible."

"Like right now?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi blinked in surprise.

"Um, well, it doesn't have to be right now, but-"

"I would like it to be, if we're done here." The expression on Sasuke's face was of utmost seriousness. "The sooner the better, right?"

"Are… are you up for it?" Kakashi asked. "It's going to be painful, and will most certainly aggravate your wounds."

"Pain is speculative," Sasuke replied crisply in dismissal. "What do I need to do?"

Kakashi blinked, still absorbing this, and then nodded.

"Follow me," he stated simply, moving to the door. Sasuke moved to follow him, and so did Zabuza and Dagina, but then Kakashi clarified, "just you."

Zabuza glared at Kakashi in utmost rage, but Sasuke turned to him and touched his wrist softly.

"I'm sure I'm in good hands, Sensei," he breathed softly to his teacher, his mentor, his father. "Don't worry about me." Then he kneeled down, using Dagina for help, and snuggled the girl, running his fingers through the animal's fur on her cheeks as he nuzzled her face with his. "You have to stay with Sensei, okay my dear?" She whined, licking his face. He kissed the fur right above her nose. "I'll be back soon."

Zabuza took his hand, helping Sasuke back up into a stand, and the teenager gave him one last smile before nodding acknowledgement to everyone else in the room before turning and following Kakashi out the door.

**End Chapter Fourteen – Sharp Containment**

**I wish I could give you the next chapter, but I can't, seeing as how I don't have the next flashback written yet. :''D**

**Please review? I always love hearing what you think!**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	28. Flashback Fourteen: Andora2

**Hey guys! :D**

**I just wrote this up like, five minutes ago! So pardon if it's a little short. -.-''**

**At any rate, enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Fourteen – Andora2**

_The way going was rough, and almost treacherous. Within a few days they made it to the meeting point, and Sasuke immediately felt his guard rise within him. _

_Everything about the place screamed creepy._

_There was a mountain a few dozen miles west of the river they had been sailing on, just the edge of a mountain range that all but split the lower end of the east and west halves of the continent. There were many paths that had been carved through the mountains, but only one led to the infamous city of Andora, and from what Zabuza had said, the path was constantly changing. Andora was full of riches and thieves, and those in control of the city wanted it to stay that way. A village full of money and danger- it was a safe haven for the murderous and unholy, and thus the perfect hiding place for those who didn't want to be found. _

_No country dare lay siege to the town due to the mountains that surrounded it nearly on all sides. Andora was quite literally carved into the sides of a bowl and the natives of the land knew the mountains better than any traveler. Any army would tire from the trip, and be slaughtered before they even reached the gates. _

"_Be careful now," Zabuza warned as they approached. "Don't say a word. Let me talk."_

_**But won't they recognize you, Zabuza? Or are we too far west of the Land of Waves?**_

_The entrance to the trail was a small outpost, consisting of one shady shack, a broken fence of barbed wire, and a small group of travelers waiting to enter the dark and stony tunnel. A couple of seedy men lingered, dirty and tattered from the elements and with eyes sharper than steel. Sasuke was sure they could literally __**see **__the kunai he had stashed away. Another man had a tiny little booth, selling trinkets and medallions he claimed would ward off the evil spirits that lingered in the mountain. _

"_Morning," Zabuza said gruffly as he neared the two men, who had immediately turned their eyes to him as soon as he got close enough to the fence. "I come seeking to enter the bowl."_

_One of the men, a mangled creature with a humpback and one eye missing, scowled at him. _

"_For what purpose?" He asked icily, hands on his belt. The other man with him looked strong and alert, standing at attention. He was obviously the muscle. Sasuke eyed him through his bangs, keeping his head down. Zabuza jerked the rope that was wrapped around his wrists sharply, making him stumble into Haku, who was linked to him with the same rope._

"_I have some slaves that I mean to sell there. I've heard that a few lords are looking for pretty little boys."_

_Zabuza and the two youngsters had organized this beforehand. Zabuza was to be a slave trader seeking to sell his obviously illegal wares in the one village on the continent that didn't care it was illegal, and Sasuke and Haku were to be the hapless, defenseless boys he would be selling. _

"_This is to protect you,"__ he had assured Sasuke beforehand as Sasuke protested. __"This will keep our tough image up, and no one will touch you if they know you're my wares. At least, that's the plan. So be prepared to get roughed up a little."_

_**Fantastic plan, Zabuza.**__ Sasuke thought dryly, his and Haku's clothes being dirtied and disheveled previous to arriving. __**I'm SO going to get bruises from this.**_

_The tall man leaned down at Zabuza's words, inspecting Haku, who looked away in fear. His hand reached up, and made to touch the boy's face._

"_Hey!" Zabuza snapped, yanking on the rope and jerking both Sasuke and Haku away from the man and closer to him. Sasuke and Haku both yelped and cuddled close together, looking terrified. "No touching my wares. Unless you have the gold these two are both worth, keep your hands to yourself." _

"_And what about my dick?" The man snarled angrily. "Do I have to keep __**that **__to myself?"_

"_You do if you don't want it getting chopped off," Zabuza warned with equal menace. The short and ugly one snapped his fingers impatiently. _

"_That's enough, Patzu!" He ordered, making the taller one roll his eyes and step back from Zabuza and the two boys. Sasuke mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the ugly one turned back to Zabuza. "Have you the fare to cross safely?"_

_Zabuza scowled at the man from behind his wrapped face and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small sack of coins. Eagerly, the shorter man reached for it, but Zabuza lifted it up out of his range._

"_You get this sack when we get to the bowl safely," he said, eying the tall one in distrust, who hadn't stopped glaring at him. "If fact, when we reach the bowl, you might just get double."_

_The short one raised an eyebrow, wringing his hands together._

"_You have double?" He asked in glee. Zabuza's expression didn't change._

"_I suppose you won't know until we arrive, now will you?" He asked. The short one scowled, looking up at the tall one. _

"_Okay, that's fine," the tall one, Patzu, said, eying the two boys lecherously. "But only if I get a taste of your wares."_

_**OhmyGod he's talking about having SEX with us! **__Sasuke thought in terror, hiding his face in Haku's chest. __**OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGOD!**_

"_The only taste you'll be getting is of my steel if you don't shut your mouth about my cargo," Zabuza hissed icily. "Unless you'd prefer knowing how it feels to get a six-foot cock shoved up your ass."_

_Both men simultaneously looked down to Zabuza's crotch in intense disbelief before they both shook themselves and looked away, silently fuming._

_**Ha. Made you look. **__Zabuza thought in glee as the humpback coughed. _

"_Fine, it's a deal," the man spat. "You'll get there safely. Patzu, take care of them."_

_Patzu smirked, eying Haku with an evil glint in his eye. The expression made Sasuke want to stab him._

"_Oh, I will."_

_Sasuke's eyes shot fire as they drilled a hole in the ground by Haku's feet._

_**Oh. You asshole. I'll kill you for that.**_

"_I most certainly will."_

_And with that, Zabuza and the two boys were led beyond the wire fence and into the dark and lonesome road._

**End Flashback Fourteen – Andora2**

**Yep. Could not think of a word for the title of this chapter. So there. :P**

**Also, just making up geography as I go along. If any of this is wrong in the cannon, my apologies, but this is not cannon. **

**Did you enjoy? Could you review? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	29. Feeling Fear

**This is the real chapter I wanted you guys to see. I love it, I love it, I love it!**

**I hope you do too! :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Fifteen – Feeling Fear**

Sasuke followed Kakashi down to the basement of the Hokage Tower, a dark and dank place with a dirty white tile floor and columns of stone that were the foundations of the tower. Stacks of dusty, forgotten boxes sat in a lonely corner. He looked around as they walked towards the center of the massive room.

"A lot of storage space down here," he commented as he did, his voice echoing. "Doesn't look very used."

"Not a lot of people like it down here," Kakashi replied as means of explanation, pausing at a column and turning to him. "All right, here we are. It's going to take a little set-up, and I'm going to need your blood."

Sasuke looked up at him and shrugged.

"Okay…" he stated. "And?"

"I was thinking we just use the blood from your wounds," Kakashi explained. "So we don't have to give you yet another scar."

Sasuke's lips pursed as he looked at the older man.

"I'd rather you just cut me," he stated plainly after a moment of thought, offering up his arm to the man. At Kakashi's questioning look, Sasuke shrugged. "We didn't bring any clean bandages, and taking dirty ones off just to put them back on doesn't exactly sound hygienic."

Kakashi blinked then shrugged as well, seeing the boy's point. Shifting, he took a kunai out of the pouch at his belt and a small glass jar, settling the kunai's tip against Sasuke's outstretched arm.

"I'm sorry," he breathed as he pressed down. Blood welled up from either side of the blade. Sasuke bit the inside of his lip, but then shook his head.

"Don't be," he replied softly. He raised his eyes and made eye contact with Kakashi. "You're helping me."

Kakashi stared at him for a moment and then averted his eyes, looking back down at the blade and collecting the dripping blood in the jar. He could feel Sasuke stiffen in front of him.

"Don't worry," he murmured. "I won't take more than I need."

"I'm not worried," Sasuke responded, just as gently. The blood flow seemed to slow before it continued again. Kakashi thought Sasuke was going to say more, but he didn't. He put the kunai away after a moment and massaged Sasuke's arm to stimulate blood flow, holding the jar with his other hand.

When the jar was mostly full, Kakashi ripped the bottom of his innermost shirt and used it as a dressing to wrap around Sasuke's arm. Sasuke, taking a breath, leaned against the column, holding his arm.

"Go ahead and sit down," Kakashi told him, taking candles out of his bag. "It's going to be a few minutes."

Silently, eyes closed and lips pursed, Sasuke slid down the length of the column and settled at its base, resting against it and allowing himself to relax, his breathing shallow as he focused on it, ordering it to deepen.

Dipping his fingers into the jar of Sasuke's blood, Kakashi drew a complex circular insignia on the dusty floor, then wiped his hands on his pants and lit candles at the border.

"Sasuke," he stated after a little bit, turning to the boy, who opened his eyes halfway and looked over at Kakashi tiredly. "Come on. To the center."

Slowly, Sasuke began to stand up, and Kakashi leaned over and took him by the uninjured arm, hefting him up and helping him into the center without disturbing the candles.

"Kneel," he told Sasuke softly, pushing gently at the boy's shoulder, and the teen obeyed, settling onto his knees and taking a breath.

"Strange…" he breathed hollowly. "You haven't even done anything and it already hurts."

Kakashi's lips pursed from where he squatted beside Sasuke, beginning to draw designs on the boy's skin in his own blood.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "It's only going to get worse from here on out."

"I'll be able to handle it," Sasuke reassured him tiredly. "I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining, really."

That brought a small smile to Kakashi's face as he continued, drawing on Sasuke's shoulders and back.

"How'd you get so grown-up?" He asked as he worked. Sasuke started to shrug, but remembered Kakashi was working and stopped.

"Life, I guess," he replied. "I had good teachers." There was a pause for a moment as Sasuke nibbled on his lip. "That and pain has a nasty habit of sobering you up."

Kakashi raised his eyes to look at Sasuke and paused in his work to simply stare at the back of the boy's head for a moment, wondering about that statement. He opened his mouth to question Sasuke further, but then decided against it and dipped his hand in the jar again.

"Turn to face me," Kakashi told him softly. "I need to draw on your face."

"What about you?" Sasuke asked as he complied, turning his body ever so slightly so that he could face Kakashi, the older man beginning to paint his face. The boy closed his eyes at the touch. "What scares you so much that you have to hide from it?"

Kakashi knew he was talking about his mask and fought from letting his expression change, instead focusing his gaze firmly on Sasuke's soft, pale skin. When he thought he had regained control of himself, he answered with a barely-there shrug.

"Life is scary," he replied simply, absentmindedly. This made Sasuke smirk as he opened his eyes.

"Please," he responded disbelievingly, rolling his eyes before looking back up at the older man. "If life was that scary you would've killed yourself a long time ago." This practically tore Kakashi's attention away from his work to look Sasuke in the eye, and he saw a wisdom and a calm in those eyes that almost frightened him. "There's obviously something in this world that you think is still worth fighting for." He smiled a little bit. "Otherwise you would be laying on a beach somewhere tanning with a drink in your hand instead of helping a total stranger. Either that or you'd be dead."

Kakashi had to chuckle at that, painting runes on Sasuke's cheeks with the utmost care before moving to his lower face.

"I don't tan well," he breathed softly, setting his bloodstained thumb on Sasuke's bottom lip and pulling it downwards to the bottom of the boy's chin, finishing the finger-painting session. But as he did his eyes flickered back up to Sasuke's, and suddenly Kakashi forgot exactly what he was supposed to do next as his thumb moved on its own, settling itself near the corner of Sasuke's lips as those eyes seemed to draw him in.

_What is it about this boy that's so… mesmerizing? _

Sasuke smiled at him, raising his hand to set it along Kakashi's jaw, his own thumb resting right at the corner of the shadows of Kakashi's mouth. His hand was unnaturally cold against Kakashi's face.

Or maybe his face was just unnaturally warm.

Suddenly, Kakashi found that he was afraid of this tiny little creature beside him, afraid of him and the unnatural power he seemed to simply radiate out of every pore of his being.

He was afraid and yet… he couldn't bear to move away. As if he was in a pool of scalding hot water in a desert of ice. To stay meant boiling, yet if he were to even lift his body out the slightest bit, he would instantaneously freeze. Too hot to stay in, but too cold to get out. That was the situation Kakashi found himself in now, with this boy. Except here, Sasuke was source of both the heat and the chill, and Kakashi had no idea how to escape.

He was unmistakably, unbearably afraid.

And yet he stayed where he was, gazing into those mighty, endless eyes.

"Don't worry," Sasuke breathed to him, still smiling and seeming to be completely unaware of Kakashi's inner, panicked struggle. "Being afraid is healthy."

Leaning up and turning his head a little more, he kissed Kakashi firmly through the mask, off-center of the man's mouth as his hold on Kakashi's jaw held him steady. It wasn't a full kiss, and it wasn't passionate or heated, but Kakashi could taste the blood at the corner of his mouth that bled through his mask at the contact, and he licked at it before he could control himself.

But by then Sasuke had already drawn away, and the smile turned into a grin.

"Too bad you're too old for me," he commented in amusement, his eyes sparkling before he turned his face away and settled more fully on his knees, waiting for the next step.

Kakashi had to resist glaring at the boy, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he tried to ignore his pounding heart.

_That didn't happen. That didn't happen._

_Wait, TOO OLD?_

He didn't know whether to feel relieved or insulted. But he didn't think Zabuza would really appreciate him fornicating with his fourteen-year-old student (little did he know that was _Zabuza's_ job) even though it would give him a great excuse to punch the sword-wielder in the throat for what happened four years ago.

"Are you even interested?" Kakashi asked as he took a kunai to his left palm, shifting to stand behind Sasuke instead. "About that boy that Zabuza killed. My student."

"I know he and I share a name," Sasuke replied, licking his lips as his stomach turned a little in nervousness. "I know that he had a horrible fate ahead of him that was worse than him dying when he did."

"How could you possibly know?" Kakashi almost snapped, slicing his palm and waiting for the blood to well up. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"I know enough," Sasuke stated simply, swallowing. "I know that he died full of hate. Hate for his brother. I know his brother killed his entire family. Finished off a great and powerful clan. And no one knows why he did it." He paused, gazing out into the darkness. "It was better for him to die young. Better to die young and full of hatred than to live long enough to see that hatred destroy him and everyone who ever cared." It was then he realized that too much bitterness had filled his voice, and he cursed it. "He was cursed from the beginning. There was nothing anyone could do. Zabuza did the right thing. He put that poor boy out of his misery."

Kakashi poured some of Sasuke's blood into his own bloody palm, letting the two mix as he thought about the boy's words.

_You couldn't know. _He thought, realizing anger and sorrow clouded his judgment as he did. _How could you? You didn't even know him. How dare you._

"This is going to hurt," he stated simply, pressing his bloodied palm right atop the Curse Mark and holding it down with his right hand, beginning to chant.

A circle of Chakra immediately erupted at the border of candles, and Sasuke screamed, feeling every rune on his body sear him like they were brands as they began to glow, matching the light emitting from the drawings beneath him. As Kakashi's chanting increased in tempo so did the pain, and Sasuke found he could do nothing but whimper and shudder and attempt to cry out as the runes that were drawn shifted as if they had come alive, moving across his skin and concentrating around the Curse Mark. The markings on the floor did the same, crawling up Sasuke's body towards Kakashi's hands. The pain grew more and more intense, and Sasuke felt like his shoulder was being sawed off his torso. Try as he might though, he couldn't move away. It was if his skin was glued to Kakashi's hand. The Chakra swallowed him whole, so powerful it burned away his bandages and finally gave him a voice as the insignias finally closed in on the mark, and the resulting explosion of energy was so powerful it knocked Kakashi back to skid across the floor. The candles were knocked to the ground as well, the wicks facing away from the inner circle.

Sasuke's scream shook the room, and dirt and pebbles trickled from the ceiling as the columns shuddered.

The boy collapsed to the floor, bandages gone and body smoldering. Gasping, Kakashi managed to push himself up and readjust his mask.

"Sasuke?"

There was no answer. Kakashi stumbled to his feet and walked over to the boy, who was curled up on his side facing away from him.

"Hey," he breathed, taking hold of Sasuke's uninjured shoulder and pulling him backwards to settle onto his back just as Sasuke stirred. Kakashi's eyes widened in shock.

_Now I understand._

"Now I understand why you didn't want me to use the blood from your wounds," he breathed in accusation, reaching out to drag his fingertips lightly across Sasuke's pale chest as the boy looked up at him through exhausted, fearful eyes, bare and vulnerable beneath him as he realized he was found out. "There was no blood."

The wounds had already healed, leaving only small, thin scars. Kakashi's gaze flickered over to the bandage covering Sasuke's arm, and he lunged forward, grasping the boy's wrist and making him flinch in surprise as the man yanked the arm towards him and tore the piece of shirt away.

"Your arm is healed too, just like that," he breathed, almost angrily as he looked back down at Sasuke. He was on guard now. He was no longer in a hot spring on an ice flow, but back on solid ground, dry and comfortable, staring into the face of a predatory lion pretending to be a measly little kitten. Sasuke looked as if Kakashi was about to beat him, curling within himself protectively even as his claws extended. "What _are _you?"

"Human, Kakashi. Now, why don't you tell me if your little light show did its job?"

Kakashi looked over his shoulder to see Zabuza standing there, massive arms crossed with Dagina at his feet, every hair standing up and claws extended. She must have been the one to lead the man down to them. Taking his unmarred right arm, Sasuke tiredly rested it face up on the floor in Dagina's direction as he looked past Kakashi to her, and she took the opportunity to dash to his other side, nuzzling him in worry.

Fisting the fur of her thick neck in his hands, Sasuke pulled himself into a sitting position with her help and reluctantly turned his back to Kakashi so the man could see his left shoulder blade.

A ring of tiny markings surrounded the Curse Mark, and Kakashi could almost _see _the rage behind that mark at being caged, could almost _see _little hands beating against the ring.

"Yes, it looks like it," he replied before addressing Sasuke. "You might feel like crap right now, but you will feel better in a couple of days. As long as the seal holds, the Curse Mark should stop bothering you completely."

Sasuke, gasping with just the effort of sitting up, looked over at Kakashi from behind his bangs.

"And if it should break?" He asked dryly. Kakashi shrugged.

"Then the Curse Mark will return with such ferocity it will be a miracle if it doesn't kill you outright," he replied simply. Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes, resting heavily against Dagina's flank. "But that's a good thing. That means Orochimaru won't be careless with it. Now he'll have to be much more careful with how he approaches you, which will make him more predictable for us."

"Oh, joy," Sasuke stated bitterly, swallowing as Zabuza walked over. "I'm glad I can be an unsuspecting pawn in your little game of catch-the-crook chess."

Taking off his shirt, Zabuza pulled it over Sasuke's head, and it was only then Kakashi realized that the Chakra had not burned away just the boy's bandages, but his pants as well.

_Oh Gods. He's completely naked._

Kakashi stood and backed away a couple of steps to give the three more room, and Zabuza gently helped Sasuke up, straightening the shirt as he did so. It was so large and Sasuke so tiny that it was more like a dress than a shirt.

As soon as Sasuke managed to stand, he seemed okay, but then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed against Zabuza, completely wiped out.

"He'll be like that for a few days," Kakashi told Zabuza as the man effortlessly picked Sasuke up in his arms. The boy seemed so tiny compared to the monster that suddenly handled him so gently. The immediate and drastic charge was hard for Kakashi to absorb. "He's going to be really hungry when he wakes up."

"He always is," Zabuza replied simply, turning back to the entrance of the basement. Nodding, Kakashi turned and began to leave.

"Kakashi."

The man paused and turned to look back at the other ninja. Zabuza nodded at him.

"Thank you." Kakashi nodded.

"You're welcome."

"But of course, if this doesn't work and something does happen, I will come for you."

Kakashi blinked, undaunted, and then smiled from behind his mask.

"Of course," he replied easily. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

With that, he turned and exited the basement.

**End Chapter Fifteen – Feeling Fear**

***squee***

**Ah, you see?! You see what I mean?**

**I seriously hope you liked it. :DDDD**

**You should tell me exactly how much you liked it. In a review. Pweeeeease? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	30. Flashback Fifteen: A-Hole

**Greetings again. :D**

**Yes, I'll get to Treacherous Heart, I promise. Just let me have my fun with this one first...**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Fifteen – Asshole**

_The tunnel through the mountain was dark, damp, and cold. Patzu was in front, wielding a torch, and Zabuza was behind him, the two boys bringing up the rear and huddled close. They dared not speak, for even a single drop of water echoed endlessly, and not a word could be spoken without everyone hearing._

_It wasn't just the four males, however. There were two others with them – a woman and her charge, a little blonde girl wearing a simple pink dress. The woman, her brunette hair shaved at the sides and the resulting Mohawk twisted into a low ponytail, was armed to the teeth. Sasuke didn't even __**want **__to know why she and the girl were headed to Andora. Neither of them spoke, and the woman carried the girl on her back in a satchel, allowing the girl to straddle her hips but also still allowing the woman to wield her weapons with absolute ease. Two battle axes were strapped to the woman's back, trapping the girl to her and defending the child against all who sought to take her from the she-warrior's back. Twin machetes hung from a belt at her hips, and Sasuke almost __**knew **__that she held more lethal daggers in the leather arm bands covering her forearms. A string of canine teeth hung from her neck like a trophy, and another curved bone of some poor animal pierced an ear twice, once at the arch and once at the lobe. _

_The woman and her load brought up the rear, and Sasuke found himself to be positively fascinated. He had seen woman warriors in his village and ex-clan, sure, but never one dressed as roughly as __**she**__. She didn't even look like a ninja (with the heavily padded vest and tight camouflage-colored pants that allowed her midriff to show coupled with knee-high combat boots), and he couldn't see any sort of headband between his shy glances. Whenever she caught him looking she would give him an angry scowl and he would quickly divert his eyes, but he wished so greatly just to __**talk **__to her. _

_She was the most interesting person here, after all. That and he could only think about Patzu's face for so long before having to fight the urge to vomit. _

_**He better not touch Haku. **__He thought fiercely. __**If he touches Haku, I swear to God, I'll-**_

_**This is your chance, Sasuke.**_

_He blinked and his eyes widened._

_**This is what you've been training for, isn't it? To protect someone that you love?**_

_**Well, time to find out if it's paid off.**_

"_How long is the journey?" Zabuza asked, his voice echoing. Patzu shot him an irritated look._

"_No talking yet," he warned quietly. "When we see the sun."_

_Sasuke swallowed, realizing that he was getting just a little claustrophobic as the light of one torch ended well before another began, leaving them in absolute darkness for a short period of time._

_**See the sun? Oh man, I hope that's soon.**_

_A few more hours passed and they came to a dead end. Zabuza scowled at Patzu._

"_What is this?!" He demanded._

_Without a word, Patzu touched a certain part of the stone wall, and the entire thing swung outwards, powerful afternoon sunlight streaming into the tunnel, making everybody flinch. When his eyes adjusted, Sasuke could see a small, trickling waterfall and a few makeshift benches with a single tree._

"_We will rest here for a while before continuing," Patzu told the group. "Then after a few hours more of traveling we'll make camp. Not even the inside of a mountain is a safe place after dark."_

_Everybody piled out of the tunnel, the massive stone barrier closing behind them. _

_**I see. **__Sasuke thought. __**That's another way to stop people from finding Andora's location without a guide. Any of us would've just turned back, thinking it was a dead end. **_

_He yelped as Zabuza yanked on the rope. _

"_Sit," he ordered Haku and Sasuke, pointing to the ground next to a bench. Hurriedly, they obeyed, the chilly mountain breeze making them huddle close. Reaching into his supplies, Zabuza pulled out a single piece of jerky and tossed it to them. "Share."_

_**I'm really beginning to hate this. **__Sasuke thought irritably as Haku split the single piece and handed him one. __**I think I might just kill that asshole out of irritation. **_

_Said asshole, speaking of which, leaned against a stone boulder at the edge of the clearing, smiling at Haku lucratively. Zabuza, who was busy inspecting his 'wares' as they ate, seemed not to notice. _

_But he did._

"_I'll kill him, Zabuza," Sasuke whispered softly, now that they were in a place where they could talk without being overheard. Zabuza pulled his fingers roughly through Sasuke's hair, and shook him a little by it just for show. _

"_I know, Sasuke," he breathed, turning to pretend to inspect Haku, taking him by the chin and forcing his head from side to side. "Just bare it. It's not permanent." He looked at Sasuke even as he faced Haku. "I won't let him hurt either of you."_

_The woman stepped in front of a boulder and kneeled, undoing the satchel that held the girl and allowing her to slip away from beneath the axes, free to stretch her limbs and wander around. The she-warrior climbed to one of the highest points and sat on one knee, her elbow resting on the other as her gaze never left the small child. _

_The girl climbed on the rocks for a little while, silent the whole time. It was unnerving, how quiet she was. And she couldn't have been more than five or six. Sasuke noticed this, and swallowed._

"_What do you think of the woman and that girl?" He asked as Zabuza yanked at his arm, inspecting his limbs. _

"_I don't care about her," he replied. "If she turns out to be a threat, I'll deal with her then, but if not…"_

_Just then the girl seemed to take interest in the boys and their master, and she wandered over there lazily, watching them curiously before finally heading over. Zabuza, playing the part of a merciless slave trader, drew his sword and pointed it at the girl angrily as she got too close._

"_Hey! Back up!" He snapped._

_Just as soon as he said that, a blade held itself beneath his chin in just a tiny whisper of wind, and the woman stood between him and the girl, her eyes blazing in anger as she held the blade of her battle axe to his jaw line with the power of a single arm, the girl now behind her and out of Zabuza's reach._

_Neither Haku or Sasuke – or even Zabuza for that matter – had even seen the woman move, and she had been on almost the complete opposite of the clearing when Zabuza drew his blade. It made a bead of nervous sweat run down Sasuke's face._

_**Oh God. Note to self: Don't piss THAT woman off. **_

_The girl peeked out from behind the woman, gazing at Zabuza with big, unfazed eyes. _

_But they were black as night. She stared at Zabuza expressionlessly for a moment before lowering her eyes and tugging on the woman's pant leg. The she-warrior's lips twisted into a scowl, but without even looking at the girl she withdrew her weapon from Zabuza's throat and turned away, reattaching her weapon to the identical blade that was still across her back. Silently, after putting enough distance between herself and Zabuza, she knelt and allowed the girl to climb up onto her back again, reattaching the straps of the satchel across her chest. After that was finished, she looked back to Zabuza as he sheathed his blade, and they seemed to come to a silent, mutual understanding._

_**We're both protecting something. **__Zabuza thought, impressed. __**Okay. Things just got interesting.**_

"_Ah, well…" Patzu began, stepping down to the group nervously. Sasuke had to fight down a smirk._

_**Did you just realize how in over your head you are, asshole?**_

"_Let's go. We have some time to make up."_

_Opening another door that led back into the mountain, Patzu relit his torch and continued onward. _

_This time though, when Zabuza and the woman walked down the tunnel, they did not walk in a line, but rather side by side. _

**End Flashback Fifteen – Asshole**

**Yes, a simple chapter.**

**So you've just met two of my favorite original characters ever. :) Tweaked, of course, for the Naruto-verse.**

**Get along with them, okay? *heart***

**Tell me what you thought of them?**

**LOOOOOOOOVES**

**DDB**


	31. Mask of Truth

**I love this chapter.**

**I hope you do too.**

**Warning: A lot of dialogue.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Sixteen – Mask of Truth**

"Is he going to be okay?"

"The Curse Mark is contained. That's definitely going to help. He should be just fine. He'll just have to rest for a few days."

"Does that mean we're still in the exams?"

"Yes, you are. The good thing is that there's still at least three days left of the second part of the exams. That should give him plenty of time to recover."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei. It was wonderful of you to help him the way you did."

"Don't worry about it, Haku. You three are guests in this village. The least we can do is make sure you don't die while you're here."

"Haku. Inaré."

The two looked up to see Zabuza standing in the doorway of Sasuke's recovery room, arms crossed as he leaned against the arch.

"Come on. You've been with him all day. It's time for some training."

Inaré visibly pouted while Haku's lips pursed, but they both stood without complaint at his orders. The girl turned to look at Sasuke one more time, who was still unconscious as he lay there, and leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek before walking over to Zabuza. Haku squeezed his comatose teammate's hand gently before leaving his side as well. Zabuza looked over at Kakashi, who was standing at the foot of Sasuke's bed.

"Are you going to look after him?" Zabuza asked. Kakashi shrugged before looking back to the sleeping boy.

"I suppose I can," he replied nonchalantly before his gaze went back to Zabuza. "You trust me? With your prized student? After what you did to mine?"

Zabuza shrugged.

"No, I don't," he answered simply. "But the fact is that I trust the animal more than I care about not trusting you."

Kakashi glanced uneasily at the massive feline, who was sleeping on the bed next to Sasuke, curled up beside him with her great head on his hips so she wouldn't trouble his breathing. She looked so peaceful, so cuddly, but Kakashi knew she wouldn't hesitate to bite off his face if he so much as looked at Sasuke the wrong way.

"Besides, why would you go through so much trouble to help him if your only goal was to kill him? We'll be gone for a few hours, Hatake. We'll bring back some food for your troubles."

With that, Zabuza ushered his other two pupils out of the room. Kakashi, still standing languidly, blinked at the parting words and shrugged.

_Hm. Food. Yummy. Okay, fine. He has a point. _

He simply looked at Sasuke for a long moment before moving and taking a seat next to the bed, where Haku had been sitting before as he held his companion's hand. Dagina opened a single eye at the movement to watch Kakashi sit down and stared at him long enough to decide he wasn't a threat before closing the eye again.

Truth was if Zabuza hadn't suggested the Jounin watch Sasuke, Kakashi might have quite possibly willingly leaped at the chance himself – subtly, of course.

There was just something about this boy that just… fascinated him. The superfast healing, his sharpness, his maturity… all of them spoke of a creature that had suffered more and experienced more than he should have in his fourteen years of life.

_I'm sure you've lived many more lives than the one you're living right now. _Kakashi thought as he gazed at the boy, his hand settling on the pocket of his pants that held his favorite book. _You've probably experienced more than a lot of people in this village combined. There can't be that much power without that much suffering. _

"You're an interesting person, Sasuke Terranova," he breathed softly. "But one thing's for sure; you are _nothing _like the Sasuke I lost." His eyes darkened a little, and he undid the button on his pocket and slipped his fingers in. "Sasuke Uchiha. I wonder if you two would've gotten along. You surely would've been able to teach him a few things. Maybe you could've helped him. Maybe even saved him." He sighed, pulling out his book and flipping it open. "Well, too late to find out now." Dagina opened her eyes in irritation at him and snorted. He flapped a hand at her. "I know, I know. He's sleeping. I get it." He opened the book and began to read, not really absorbing the dirty, lecherous words as his gaze continuously flickered to the sleeping boy in front of him.

_I can only wonder what you will become, Sasuke Terranova._

* * *

A few hours later had Kakashi rereading the book again, having finished it while he had been sitting there. Zabuza and his two students hadn't reappeared, but Kakashi wasn't really surprised. All three of them had a lot of worry and anger they had to work out due to Sasuke's attack, and he knew the best way to do that was to train until you couldn't feel your face anymore. They would be a little longer yet.

_I wonder if Orochimaru knows what he's doing. Like, REALLY knows. _Kakashi thought to himself as he closed the book and looked up at the blank, emotionless ceiling. _I know he likes to piss a lot of people off at once, but… _he looked back at Sasuke, who hadn't moved since he had been put into the bed. _Maybe he's bitten off a little more than he could chew with this one._

Just then, Sasuke stirred a little bit, and Kakashi immediately got out of his chair, leaning forward across the bed. Dagina, surprised by the movement, leaped to attention and snapped at Kakashi's hand. He just barely managed to dodge the attack, and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Relax," he breathed to the animal. "I'm just as worried as you are."

He wondered how truthful that statement _really _was as Dagina snorted at him and accepted the response, turning her attention back to her master. Kakashi, seeing that he was no longer a threat, did the same.

Slowly, Sasuke turned his head towards Kakashi and wearily opened his eyes, the orbs contracting with the bright light in the room.

"Sasuke…?" The older man breathed softly. "Sasuke, it's Kakashi. You're in the sickbay in the Hokage Tower. How are you feeling?"

Sasuke didn't answer right away. It didn't even seem like he heard the older ninja. Instead, he softly smiled, and raised a weary hand to touch Kakashi's cheek softly with his fingertips, to the side of the man's mouth closest to him.

"Mask…" he breathed softly, serenely, still smiling and barely cohesive. Kakashi's eyes widened – not with the fact that Sasuke was still delirious – but with shock. His hand trembling, it rose, and covered Sasuke's tiny hand, holding the boy's palm to his face.

"Mask…" he whispered hoarsely, his heart wrenching in his chest. He bit his lip and felt his chest quiver with the urge to cry out. "Yes. Yes, Sasuke. Mask, mask, mask…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and fell back asleep, and as his hand lost its strength and turned limp beneath Kakashi's own, he still held it up; still held it to his face.

His mouth opening beneath the mask in a silent, anguished cry, Kakashi seated himself back into the chair and leaned over, burying his face into the blankets next to the boy as he silently began to sob, the boy's hand still pressed against his face.

* * *

A little while later, Zabuza, Inaré, and Haku hadn't shown back up yet, and Kakashi was grateful for it. He sat there, book forgotten on the bed, and held Sasuke's hand in both of his, his single eye still red from the tears.

But he was silent. He couldn't bear to say it out loud, should someone be close enough to hear.

Or maybe he was just simply too afraid to say it himself.

"Wake up, Sasuke," he breathed, voice weak and still a little shaky. "Please."

As if on his command, Sasuke grunted softly, his eyes shifting beneath the lids. Kakashi immediately released his hand and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his single visible eye and regaining his composure. The cloudiness that had been inside of Sasuke's eyes when he had awoken the first time was gone as he opened them. He winced, shifting a little in his bed.

"Ah… Kakashi?" He asked softly. "What're you doing here? Where are Haku and Inaré? And Zabuza?"

"They're out training," he replied nonchalantly, turning a page of the book he was pretending to be engrossed in. "I've been put in charge of guarding you to make sure no one kidnaps and or kills and or rapes you, seeing as how apparently I am the only ninja in this village who has nothing better to do with his life besides watch a sleeping genin and his pet cat." He looked up at Sasuke with a disinterested eye and Sasuke smirked slightly in amusement. He looked at Dagina, who had been nuzzling him wildly since he awoke, and hugged her tightly, scratching her fiercely behind the ears.

"Hey there my dear," he breathed to the animal softly before using her to help him get up into a sitting position, leaning against the pillows. Dagina, purring loudly, settled her head in his lap. Petting her absentmindedly, he looked over at Kakashi with an amused twinkle in his tired eyes. "Well, thank you so much for your vigilance. You've done a fine job. I have neither been kidnapped nor killed nor raped as far as I can tell." He yawned, lifting his arms into the air as he stretched. "Ah… how long was I asleep?"

"Almost an entire day," Kakashi replied, still looking at the boy, his expression guarded now. "Your team will be back soon, but before they arrive, I would like to tell you a story." Sasuke cocked his head, blinking at the man in attentiveness. "I've been sitting here reading the same _Icha Icha _for over four hours. I feel like the least I deserve is being paid attention to for a little while."

After all, he had been rehearsing the story inside his head for the past hour and the _gods _knew he wasn't going to just let all of that preparation go to waste-

Sasuke laughed, leaning over to rest his weight on Dagina's large head. Crossing his arms beneath his chin, he shrugged at Kakashi.

"Okay then," he stated. "I suppose I can't really run out of here screaming in denial. Go ahead."

Kakashi closed the book with a barely-there nervous sigh, running his thumb along the spine.

"It's about the boy your teacher killed," he said plainly, looking down at the novel. "About the boy who shares your name. I remember you saying that you didn't know a lot about him and, well, I feel like we should change that." He looked up at Sasuke, searching for some kind of reaction. "Before he was born, I had been in the Anbu Elite Forces for just a few years until I was assigned a teenager as a partner. A prodigy from the Uchiha clan. Sasuke's older brother Itachi."

"The man who murdered everyone," Sasuke stated. Not a question. Simply a statement of fact. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "When he was assigned, he was given a lot of solo missions. Mostly because right before he had been assigned, I had broken my leg in a mission that had left my previous partner very much dead, so while he did the job I couldn't do, I really couldn't do anything else except mope around my house and read porn." Sasuke laughed at this, and Kakashi shrugged. "Well, as it turned out, Itachi had an infant little brother, called Sasuke." His eyes glazed over as he remembered, and Sasuke looked away at the far wall. "He wasn't destined for the best home life. His father was chief of police for the city, so he was always out on business, and his mother was the head of some country club or whatever for the ladies of the clan, so she was never really around either. So one day, I'm sitting around my house, and Itachi comes by before he's supposed to go on a mission." Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head at the memory. "He says to me, 'Kakashi. You need to watch my younger brother. My parents are idiots.'" He laughed, and Sasuke smiled in disbelief, his eyes almost shining. Kakashi shrugged. "So… I did. At the very least it would mean a change of scenery, and even though I hated the idea of watching a kid, it was Itachi who asked, and being Anbu partners basically meant we were hetero lifemates until one of us died. So I, a non-Uchiha, enter the Uchiha compound, go into Itachi's house, and spend the next half hour staring at this strange bundle of blankets and fat that did nothing but eat, sleep, poop and cry." He shrugged as Sasuke simply gazed at him, almost in awe. "For the first few weeks, I hated the thing. I never knew what it wanted or why it did what it did. There was one day I spent three hours picking up keys that it dropped over and over again just because it liked the sound of them hitting the wooden floor. If I just left them on the floor or set them on the table it would start shrieking at the top of its lungs. I could tell Sasuke's parents hated the idea of an outsider watching their son, but there was really no one else. My leg was broken. I could do nothing _except _babysit. Plus whenever I did babysit Itachi would always bring me the barbecue pork form Ichiraku. That part was nice." He nodded in relish, and Sasuke laughed, scratching at Dagina's head absently as he listened. "After a while though, I began to notice things about the baby. Like whenever it was hungry, the screaming was a constant, assaulting wail. When it was thirsty, same thing, except a lower pitch. When it wanted to be picked up, it was the terrible, agonizing mewl. Or if it wanted to play, it would somehow get really annoying hiccups and giggle insistently at me." Kakashi nodded to himself. "We learned to communicate with each other. I even began to _like _the baby. And I just _knew _that the way that baby acted with me was different than how it acted with its family. We knew each other. We understood each other. We were equally simple creatures. Whenever I would walk into the house, Sasuke would start screaming at the top of his lungs until one of his family handed him to me. His father didn't like that. Not one bit." He shook his head, and Sasuke pouted at the idea. "Eventually though, I got kicked out. I wasn't allowed to visit Sasuke anymore, and his mother cleaned up her schedule so she could spend more time with him. For eight years I didn't see him again.

"When I was forbidden to see Sasuke, something changed in Itachi. He became colder. Talked less. Even seemed to eat less. He became paler, and he got even stronger as he became less and less like Itachi and more and more like a monster. Over the next eight years, I watched him transform into something that I still can barely believe even exists." He took a deep breath to calm the storm in his heart, and Sasuke gazed up at him in silent, disquieted sadness, patiently waiting for Kakashi to continue. "One night, he comes to my house, and he tells me…" He swallowed at the memory. "He tells me, 'Kakashi, it's not the same anymore. It hasn't been the same.'" He took a shaky breath. "'I'm leaving now, Kakashi. I'm leaving, and Sasuke is going to need you. You'll be the only one he has left. You need to watch him; take care of him. His parents are idiots.'" Kakashi shook his head again. "And then he gave me a… a cold, sad smile. 'Save him, Kakashi. I'm counting on you.'" Kakashi snapped his fingers. "And then he was gone. Just like that. Later than night, we received news that the entire clan had been slaughtered. Except for that one little boy." Kakashi lifted his eyes, locking his gaze with Sasuke's. Sasuke's hands were in tight fists where they sat under his armpits, his lips pursed and gaze quivering beneath Kakashi's eyes.

"That's… that's so sad," he managed weakly, his eyes never leaving Kakashi's face. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, it was," he agreed. "The boy was a poor wreck. Crying and covered in blood and screaming that it was all his fault. The medics had to knock him unconscious so he wouldn't claw his own eyes out." Kakashi chewed at his bottom lip. "I begged the Hokage to let me take the boy in. I knew he needed me; I knew I was the only one that boy had left, even if he didn't remember me. But I couldn't." Kakashi's voice turned angry and bitter. "Sasuke's father, Fugaku, had explicitly written in his will that if something should happen to him and his wife, no one would touch his children or treat them like they were someone else's sons. They got the house sure, but no family to fill it. They could receive supplies from the city, but no one could live with them. I _knew _it was because of Fugaku's jealousy that he could never be as close to his son as I had been." Kakashi sighed. "I was the reason that boy was left alone. No one could help him. No one could tell him that he wasn't alone, because he was. The Hokage couldn't allow me to intervene in the boy's life, so I was left to watch from the sidelines, hating his father the entire time." He looked back down at the book he still held in his hands, stroking the spine as he remembered. "I loved that little boy. Not many people knew that I had such a personal relationship with a baby. They all thought I was just being a hermit in my house; the Hokage helped me keep it quiet, but…" he scratched an itch on his face, unable to look at Sasuke. "I could never forgive myself for not being there. Itachi had told me to keep watch on him, and I failed. I could only watch from a distance, and Sasuke could never know. I dropped out of Anbu shortly after the incident. Before I knew it though, the boy was in ninja school, he passed at the top of his class, and suddenly they were looking for teachers for the new graduates." Kakashi smiled. "It was then I managed to find a loophole in Fugaku's will. It said no one could treat his children like they were their own, but it didn't say _anything _about taking care of them from a professional point of view. So I went to the Hokage and begged him to let me be the teacher of Team Seven. He relented, and I found myself happier than I had been since Sasuke had been a baby almost ten years before." Kakashi looked up at Sasuke, smiled pleasantly. "And then he was murdered. Just like that. The first time we stepped out of the village together as teacher and student. After all that struggling to be there for him… I wasn't after all." Troubled, he looked away. Sasuke gazed at him uneasily, threading Dagina's fur in between his fingers. "Your teacher killed a ten-year-old kid. And he feels _joy _at the memory." He looked up at Sasuke, studying him. "How can you trust a man like that so completely?"

Sasuke blinked at him, his expression unreadable.

"Zabuza's changed since you came across him four years ago," he stated simply, as if that explained everything. "So what happened?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. "What happened? To make the dad kick you out? What happened to get him so mad at you?"

Kakashi smiled. He had been hoping Sasuke would ask that.

"I had been with the baby for about eight months," he replied. "My leg was healed, but I was still getting the strength back – or at least, that was the lie I told, so while Sasuke was sleeping I would exercise in his room as I watched him." His quiet smile widened. "One day, Sasuke was just waking up, and I took him out of his crib and held him, talking to him as he woke up." He chuckled, that smile never leaving his face. "He was actually a really cute little baby after I remembered that earplugs exist. I could tell he would be as sharp as a tack one day. He would just be a little slow getting there. But that day, as I was talking to him, he woke up and smiled at me." Kakashi gazed at the book in his hands as he remembered, his single eye beaming. "And he reached up, touched my face, and spoke his first word." Looking up at Sasuke, he smiled, touching his face right where he had been touched before. "'Mask'. Of course, he couldn't pronounce the 'k', so it was more like 'mash', but I understood. And I also realized that under no circumstances could his parents _ever _find out that was his first word. So I smiled at him, told him he did a good job, and quietly told him never to say that word again. Of course, he didn't understand me, but no harm in trying." He laughed, and Sasuke could only gaze at him, speechless. "Of course though, Fugaku ended up finding out anyway, and I was told to never go near his son again as long as he lived. Which, as it were, wasn't for very much longer anyway." Kakashi's story came to a close, and he gazed at Sasuke silently, waiting for a reaction.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek, nervously licked his lips and averted his eyes, gazing at the bed sheets around him.

"It sounds like you loved him very much," he breathed softly in the silence. "I understand now, why you hate Zabuza as much as you do. I'm so sorry." He swallowed hard, unable to look at Kakashi as he gripped Dagina's fur tightly in his fingers. "I'm sure he would've turned out to be everything you ever wanted him to be."

"I'm sure he would have," Kakashi agreed with a smile. "And now, with all of that in mind, Sasuke…" He leaned forward, setting his elbows on the bed next to Sasuke and looking him in the eye. Sasuke, a little unsettled at the movement, lifted himself off Dagina's head and leaned back against the pillows, a little further away from Kakashi. The older man caught Sasuke's gaze and held it, refusing to let go. He could almost _see _the boy's heart speeding up. When he spoke, it was so soft, and carried so many words in so few. "Why, in the name of all that is great and powerful, did you feel you had to hide yourself from me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened, and Kakashi smiled, reaching over and taking the boy's hand in his; a silent gesture of untold understanding and acceptance.

"I guess I'm not the only one who's scared of something. Sasuke Uchiha."

**End Chapter Sixteen – Mask of Truth**

**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**

**So yeah. Totally went out on a limb here. But I think it's an awesome limb. Kakashi is indeed gooey on the inside. *heart***

**Let me know what you thought? Pwease? :3**

**LOOOOOOOOVES**

**DDB**


	32. Flashback Sixteen: Sex

**Hey guys. Here is the next round of updates. :D**

**Expect Treacherous Heart to get some loving too!**

**Also: note: I know I said in the previous chapter that Sasuke's clan was slaughtered when he was ten.**

**Let's make it eight, okay? So. New truth: The clan was slaughtered when Sasuke was eight. Eiiiiiiiight. **

**We all on the same page? Good. Okay. Let's rock.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Sixteen – Sex**

_As they walked down the tunnel, Zabuza and the she-warrior were silent, following Patzu with their charges quiet as well._

_After a long while, Zabuza looked over to the woman, who wasn't quite as tall as him, but matched his stride with equal confidence._

"_So…" he began nonchalantly. "What horrible things have you done to earn yourself a place in Andora?"_

_The woman looked at him blankly, raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Is that always how you open up conversations?" She asked monotonously before turning her gaze back to the tunnel in front of them. Zabuza shrugged. _

"_I figured simple pleasantries wouldn't be appreciated," he replied easily. "Nobody wields a weapon like that and chats about the weather."_

"_It's a little cold, but I'm sure it'll warm up as soon as the rain stops," she commented pointedly before raising another eyebrow at him. He smirked at her beneath his bandages as she looked forward again. "Why do you even care?"_

"_I don't," Zabuza responded – too quickly, he realized after. Sasuke and Haku raised an eyebrow at each other as they followed him. "It's going to be a long and treacherous journey. Might as well fill the silence."_

"_By speaking mewling pleasantries?" She asked with a scowl. Zabuza returned the expression._

"_That's what I was trying to avoid!" He snapped defensively. Sighing in exasperation, he looked away from her. "Never mind."_

_They were in silence for the rest of the way. After a few hours, they emerged in another outcropping, where there was a small hut carved into the side of the rock wall. The sun was well below the horizon now._

"_This is where we'll stay for the night," Patzu informed them, turning to the group. "We'll continue at first light. There are two rooms. They're small, but they'll do."_

_The place was a dump. There were two beds that were closer to just a wooden frame with weak blankets covering the boards, and an ugly yellow sofa that was chewed up and missing a cushion. But it had a roof. Just no doors and no windows. _

_There were a couple of tables that were falling apart, but other than that and the three other pieces of 'furniture' there was nothing else in the shack except for a dingy fireplace built to hide the flames from anything roaming the mountains. _

_Zabuza and the two boys took one room while the she-warrior and her girl took the other. For a while, Patzu remained outside, keeping watch._

"_This is psycho," Sasuke breathed softly, in fear of someone overhearing as Zabuza went through their supplies for dinner. "That Patzu guy gives me the creeps."_

"_We're almost there," Zabuza replied simply, handing him some wrapped jerky and a roll. "Just a few hours more of walking and we should make it to Andora."_

_Sasuke wanted so badly to ask Zabuza about the woman, but kept quiet. If Zabuza didn't bring it up, he didn't want to talk about it._

_As they sat on the floor, light filtered through from the center room (there were no doors except for the one leading to the outside) and Zabuza looked up at the sight. _

"_Stay here, get comfortable," he told the boys. "Well, as comfortable as you can. Let me know if that creep tries something and I'm not already here."_

_Without another word, he stood and walked out. Haku and Sasuke exchanged glances, and shrugged._

* * *

_Zabuza entered the center room to see the she-warrior kneeling by the fireplace, axes still strapped across her back but child unseen. Zabuza glanced over at the second room on the other side of the 'living room' and figured she had already been put to bed. After a moment, he settled onto the side of the couch that still had the cushion, and simply watched the woman as she fiddled with the fire and adjusted the logs. _

_There was silence for a long moment before the woman finally turned to him, her hair seeming to blaze alive in the firelight and her brown-red eyes seeming to glow orange. _

"_The name is Tyra," she stated simply as she looked at him. Zabuza gazed at her for a moment and nodded._

"_Zabuza," he replied in response. She smirked a little._

"_Ah, one of the seven," she commented, mostly to herself as she shifted to settle on the floor, the fire warm at her back. "That explains the big sword. Also explains why you're running to Andora." She mock-thought for a moment before her smirk widened. "But __**not **__why you have two young boys with you."_

"_I've decided to try my hand at the slave trade," Zabuza replied easily. "And Andora is the only place that it's legal, so…"_

"_Ah," she responded. "I see."_

_They were silent after that. Zabuza knew then that neither of them was much for conversation._

"_What about you?" He asked her. "Why are you taking such a young girl to Andora?"_

"_We have business there," Tyra stated, her tone telling Zabuza that she was very much on guard. She shifted, leaning against the arm of the couch while still sitting on the floor. Reaching into a leg pocket in her pants, she pulled out a long, thin pipe that looked like a combination of dark red wood and shining white bone with a long piece of bamboo in between her other fingers. "Do you think you'll have any trouble selling the boys?"_

"_They're both virgins," Zabuza replied. "So no, not really."_

_She actually chuckled at that._

"_They're not virgins," she responded, holding the bamboo in the fire until it caught at the end and then brought it to the bowl of the pipe, taking a few puffs before leaning back and releasing a long breath. She shrugged. "Well, the short one is. Not the taller one." She shrugged. "But I suppose with a blade that big a lot of girls are too scared to hang."_

_Zabuza blinked, digesting the comment, before his eyes narrowed as the first part registered and he looked at her._

"_What are you suggesting?"_

_She turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. The single cushion Zabuza occupied was on the opposite side that she was sitting, closer to the girls' room. _

"_I'm not suggesting anything," she answered. "I'm __**saying **__that you're sleeping with the tall one." Another shrug, another draw on the pipe. The smell of cinnamon, tobacco, and rosewood wafted upwards. "Though, I thought he was a girl at first myself, so I suppose you could've done worse." Looking at him, she laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever even __**heard **__of pedophilia?" _

_Zabuza's lips pursed and he glared at her._

"_What are you talking about? I-" he blinked, shook his head and muttering bitterly after a moment, "at least it's only just the one. Fuck."_

_She smirked as she gazed into the fire, the pipe held loosely in the fingers of one hand. _

"_You don't even have the decency to deny it," she commented, shaking her head. _

"_If denying it was the right answer I would've done that," Zabuza replied bitterly, sarcastically, as he looked away with a scowl. Tyra's smirk widened. _

"_Oh?" As she spoke she turned her head to look at him. "So you decided against lying to me because you didn't think that lying would flatter me?" She gazed at him in amusement for a split second longer than necessary, and then turned back to the fire. After a moment, she spoke again, so quickly that Zabuza almost missed it as she put the pipe back to her lips. "Too bad."_

_Zabuza, not entirely sure if he heard her correctly or not, shot her a look. _

"_You weren't this chatty in the tunnel," he replied, almost angrily. She rolled her eyes. _

"_You're interesting," she stated expressionlessly after another draw. Zabuza's vision began to get hazy. She shrugged, continuing to not look at him. "That's the only reason I'm talking to you, actually." Rolling her shoulders, she put out the bamboo, and slipped it into her pocket as she stood. "If you weren't interesting, I wouldn't talk to you."_

"_Really now?" Zabuza asked incredulously. "And why am I interesting?"_

"_Because you're sleeping with that kid," she told him simply, turning to look at him with a thoroughly entertained smirk. "Keep doing that and you'll stay interesting." As Zabuza fought to not gawk at her, she turned to leave, took a few steps, and then turned back to look at him. "As a matter of fact," she stated, motioning to him with the pipe. "Sleep with the other one too. Then I'll be all over you like oil on water." Rolling her eyes, she vanished into the other room._

_**Okay. **__Zabuza thought immediately in determination, having been just assigned a brand new mission. __**No problem. **__He blinked. __**…Wait. **__His eyes narrowed as his lips pursed, and he struggled to process what he had just heard. Blinking after a moment, he slumped against the couch and stared at the fire dumbly. __**Huh. **__He thought incredulously. __**I think I just got mindfucked. **__He scowled. _

"_Bitch."_

* * *

_Sasuke gawked in amazement at Haku from where they both sat on the floor, and the older boy blinked at him. _

"_Are you ashamed?" He asked softly. Sasuke gazed at him for a long moment before pursing his lips. _

"_No…" he replied slowly. "Not… ashamed, I don't think. A little freaked out but… not ashamed." He shrugged. "You're older than me than everybody seems to think. You've been with Zabuza for years. He's…" the shrug was helpless this time as he explained his thinking, "a freak. And…"_

"_And he likes her," Haku stated with a serious expression on his face, gazing at the wall where the other two were talking on the other side. _

"_She's weird," Sasuke stated plainly right back, as if that dismissed the possible truth behind Haku's statement entirely. Both of them kept their voices to barely a whisper. "She looks like she goes out into the woods at the crack of dawn and snaps the throats of elk twice her size with her bare hands for breakfast. She looks like she goes into a smoldering hot tar pit ever Saturday and wrestles wild boars just for fun."_

"_Which is __**exactly **__what Zabuza does," Haku replied matter-of-factly, his lips pursing as he looked at Sasuke pointedly. Sasuke's own lips pursed as he realized the accuracy of Haku's statement. He blinked, and then looked at Haku in amazement._

"_Holy shit."_

"_Don't you mess this up for him," Haku ordered Sasuke suddenly, his entire expression changing as the transformation took Sasuke by surprise. The older boy pointed accusingly at his younger companion. "Zabuza's never met a woman that he's been attracted to on a personal level. Don't do anything to screw this up!"_

"_Why do you think __**I'd **__be the one to screw it up?" Sasuke shot back defensively. "He can do that all by himself! You're the one who's been having sex with him! I should be saying that to __**you**__!"_

_Haku opened his mouth to say something, and then blinked, looking at Sasuke curiously. _

"_Wait. You understand it?" He asked incredulously. "Like… really? But you're eleven!"_

"_I was in school with Naruto for two years," Sasuke stated simply in explanation. "You know what he liked to read? You know what he liked to constantly talk about? You know what pages of what books he liked to rip out and sneak into my textbooks as a joke?" His voice, still low, got even more frantic. "Do you even __**know **__what his signature Jutsu was?!"_

"_Okay, I get it," Haku replied quickly, before Sasuke lost control of his voice and got too loud. Then he blinked and leaned closer to Sasuke. "Wait. What was his signature Jutsu?"_

_Apparently that hadn't come up in any of the discussions they had had after Sasuke had his epiphany, and as he opened his mouth to respond Zabuza came back into the room._

"_-and we should go to bed," Sasuke stated quickly upon Zabuza's appearance, looking up past Haku at the older man and making Haku turn his head to gaze up at the older man. Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the two, immediately knowing they had been plotting something. _

"_Yes," the man stated coolly, leaving no room for question or argument or conversation. "You should."_

_With that, he climbed onto the sad excuse for a bed. Sasuke and Haku, still sitting on the makeshift bed they had made for themselves with the sleeping bags they had brought along, looked at each other in worry. What had expired between Zabuza and the woman while they had been too distracted talking?_

_**I knew I should've saved my comments for after. **__Sasuke thought wryly. Haku looked over at him and caught his eye. Pursing his lips, he nodded silently to the younger male and with that silent statement they both decided to leave Zabuza alone and settle down together on the blankets. _

_For a long while, Sasuke simply gazed at Haku as they faced each other, and even though the other seemed asleep Sasuke knew he wasn't. There had been no comforting smile, no 'goodnight'; no soft squeeze of the hand. Haku's lips, always slightly curved upwards in an eternally quiet smile, seemed troubled, and were a little turned down instead. His breathing wasn't as deep as it normally was._

_It was a strange, foreign concept that Sasuke had to digest. All this time, Haku had been pure, like the snow he loved so much. So kind and so gentle. With the older male being such a perfect example of how humanity should be, it never occurred to Sasuke that he could have such human desires. _

_Sasuke knew a lot about sex, like what was required and all the 'great' positions to do it in (thanks to Naruto, that horndog) but he didn't actually __**know **__it, and he was grown up enough to understand that. With everything else that had been happening, with the running and the fear and the letting go of his demons, he never really took the time to think about such an instinctive want. Never took the time to understand that Haku might have those wants. The same wants that Zabuza had. _

_Zabuza was an animal. Sasuke knew that and he understood that too. He had seen the older man slaughter countless of people without question, without regret. Pairing Zabuza with sex seemed normal. Just like if he were to be paired with violence and sadism and a superiority complex the size of his sword. But Haku…_

_Haku was older than Sasuke. Quite a few years older. Where Sasuke was eleven, Haku was sixteen. Five years older, and he had been with Zabuza since he was a child. Shit, Haku didn't even __**look **__five years older. Sasuke had been amazed when he found out. _

_It seemed obvious now. They both had needs, and he was too young to understand them. _

_Sasuke realized what was wrong now, as he gazed at Haku. Pursing his lips, he scooted forward, and touched Haku's side softly._

"_Hey," he breathed, almost in the other's ear. At the sound, Haku's eyes flickered open. Sasuke took a breath, and drew even closer, setting his lips right next to Haku's ear as not to get Zabuza's attention. _

_What he said destroyed all boundaries still remaining in his heart._

"_I still love you."_

_Haku's lips broke into a wide smile, and he leaned forward into Sasuke's embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around the younger man. Turning his neck, he planted a soft kiss at the corner of Sasuke's mouth, making the young boy fiercely blush._

"_Thank you," he breathed softly. _

_When Haku fell asleep, there was a smile on his lips._

**End Flashback Sixteen – Sex**

**FLUFFASAURUSREXAAAAAAAAAAAAH **

**I hope you guys enjoyed it. *heart***

**Also, there is a sequel to Machine Gun up now, called Dead Man Walking.**

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**Review this story before you head off to that one? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	33. Begin the Preliminaries

**The final upload for this story tonight. This is the start of my favorite part...**

**Enjoy! :D**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Seventeen – Begin the Preliminaries**

Tears immediately rose to Sasuke's eyes as he realized he didn't have to keep that crushing weight in his chest anymore because Gods, _Gods somebody else finally knows- _and he started to cry, leaning over and wrapping his arms around Kakashi in a clinging hug.

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi!" He sobbed into the man's vest as relief poured over the older man. There had been a deep, underlying fear in his heart– _what if he was just imagining things, what if he was WRONG and Sasuke was really, truly dead-?! –_and now he knew that yes, he had been right and yes, this creature in his arms was the baby that had been in his arms fourteen years ago, and yes, _oh Gods Sasuke was alive- _"I wanted to tell you as soon as I saw you! I wanted to tell you and Naruto and Sakura and I wanted to rub it in that stupid idiot's face that took my place, but I couldn't! Oh Gods, I just couldn't-!"

"Hush, Sasuke…" Kakashi breathed to him, in fear someone was in earshot even though the door was closed even though he was still full of awe. His grip around the boy tightened, and he could hear Sasuke try to control his tears. "It's okay. It's okay now." After a moment, he pulled away and Sasuke wiped at his eyes as Kakashi gazed at him. "I understand not shouting it out from every balcony, but why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Naruto? He thinks you're dead. Every single day he thinks you're dead is another day he suffers."

Sasuke took a tissue from the side of the bed and blew his nose loudly.

"I know, Kakashi!" He exclaimed bitterly. "I know I'm hurting him by keeping this from him, but…" he shrugged helplessly. "Please, please don't tell anyone. Not the Hokage, not Naruto, please-"

"Why don't you want him to know?" Kakashi asked in disbelief. "He was your best friend. You made each other better."

Sasuke took a deep breath, wringing the bed sheets in his hands.

"Because, Kakashi…" he replied sadly, shaking his head with his eyes still gleaming with tears. He took in another deep breath, trying to control them as he rubbed his eyes again. "Because, I…" he swallowed hard. "I'm not… I'm not an Uchiha anymore." He looked up at Kakashi, shaking his head. "I haven't been an Uchiha for four years. I am Sasuke Terranova. The Village Hidden in the Mist is my village. Haku and Inaré are my teammates. If Naruto knew it was me…" He shook his head again, looking away. "He would ask me to stay. He would beg me to, and I can't." He looked back up to Kakashi, and sniffed. "I can't stay. These people are not my people anymore. I owe them nothing."

"There were people here who cared for you-" Kakashi began.

"Not in the way Inaré and Haku do," Sasuke argued simply, cutting him off. "My teammates, Zabuza my teacher, the people of the Hidden Mist Village have showed me more love and more acceptance than I ever felt here."

"What are you talking about? Every single girl in the village was swooning over you-"

"And yet they all held me at arm's length," Sasuke snapped bitterly. "Because I was the last Uchiha. Because I was 'broken'. Because I was 'alone'. They wanted to get into my pants, sure, but none of them ever really loved the real me. They all loved who they thought I was. Naruto was the only one that didn't feel any pity for me. He was the only one that got up right in my face and dared me to show him up." Sasuke chuckled hollowly, shaking his head at the memories. "He was the only one in this village that made me feel like a normal human being. Like I didn't have any big ultimate purpose. I got stronger to wipe that stupid retarded grin off his face, not to avenge my family." He shrugged at Kakashi, smiling helplessly. "With the Village Hidden in the Mist, I have no baggage. Inaré, Haku, and Zabuza are my family. I love them. More than I ever loved my own flesh and blood. I've grown stronger to protect them, not to kill." He sighed as Kakashi silently looked at him. "I can't stay here. There's too much pain, too much guilt. Hurting Naruto by letting him still think I'm dead is better than telling him I'm alive, but that it'll be like I'm still dead because odds are he'll never see me again after this." Sasuke pursed his lips, then stated firmly, "don't make me do that to him, Kakashi. If you tell him, and he asks, I _will _tell him 'no'. I will not stay just because you two want me to."

Kakashi looked at him for a long moment, and sighed deeply.

"You've changed so much, Sasuke," he stated simply, solemnly. "Look how you've changed. It's like you're shining." He smiled sadly at the boy from beneath his mask, seeing the infant he learned to understand and adore all those years ago all grown up. "I'm so happy for you."

Sasuke cocked his head at Kakashi in question before the door opened and they both turned at the sound. Inaré squealed.

"Ah! You're awake!"

She dashed over, Kakashi scooting back in his chair to give her more room as she lunged at her teammate, wrapping him in a hug. Haku made his way over as well, and Inaré seated herself between Sasuke and the wall as Dagina made room, snuggling him as Haku sat on the bed on Sasuke's other side. Zabuza was a close third, walking in with a bag of takeout and silently handing it to Kakashi. Kakashi took the bag and sniffed at it.

"Mmm, barbeque pork." He stood, headed out the door. "Yummy."

No words were exchanged between him and Zabuza as the gray-headed ninja walked by him, but Kakashi _did _sneak one last look over his shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Sasuke before he walked out the door, to see that beaming, smiling face that he never saw on the boy that left the Village Hidden in the Leaves that one fateful day four years ago.

Kakashi smiled.

_Thank you for not killing him, Zabuza. _He thought as he made his way down the hall, almost skipping with the delicious takeout in his hands. _Thank you for saving him._

* * *

Two days later saw the second exam closing and the remaining teams ushered into something like a gym, with balconies lining the walls and the teachers and the Hokage standing at the far end in front of a mighty statue shaped like a mask. After the Genin were placed in lines in front of the teachers, it was announced that because many teams had passed the first and second exams – many more than they had originally had anticipated – a preliminary tournament was to be had.

Sasuke had completely recovered in the two days, and stood there brightly at attention in an identical change of clothes as what he had been wearing before. Dagina sat at his side, eying everyone except his teammates in absolute distrust.

_Looks like Zabuza called it. _He thought as the Hokage explained the simple rules: anything goes, death was quite possible, and each ninja would be given a ten-count before they were declared unable to continue and thus eliminated from the exams. _This should be simple enough. _

He glanced up at the balcony where his teacher stood with arms crossed and smiled playfully at him. Zabuza, seeing the look, nodded and waved slightly to him. The light in Zabuza's eyes was so different from when Sasuke first met him he was almost unrecognizable. Looking around, he spotted Naruto easily enough, and the boy was delighted to see the blonde and his team had made it in as well.

Then he noticed that Sakura's hair was chopped short. He blinked, wondering how that had happened. Hadn't it been long at the start of the second exam?

He didn't care about any of the other teams. Naruto and Sakura looked relatively unharmed, if not a little exhausted, and it was then Sasuke realized that none of the teams would have a chance to rest before the preliminaries would take place. If they were one of the last teams to complete the exam, there was no break. Only a small breather.

_Ouch. Tough. _He thought dryly. _I suppose it was a good thing Orochimaru attacked me after all. Gave us a little time to rest. _

After the Hokage was finished talking, the teams were instructed to go up to the balconies to wait until their names were randomly called. As they moved, Kabuto and another of his team stated that they were withdrawing from the exams and exited the room, making Kakashi raise a curious eyebrow. As soon as Sasuke got up to the viewing platform, Naruto made his way over to him.

"It's great to see you're okay!" Naruto exclaimed as he neared. "Kakashi-sensei told me that you were recovering well, but I was almost positive you would be dropped out of the exams!" He grinned. "Good to see you're still around!"

Sasuke smiled brightly at him.

"Of course I would be," he reassured the older boy. "To be dropped from the exams means I would have to go home, and we still haven't gone out for our second round of ramen!" Naruto beamed at him, and Sasuke's heart ached a little as he glanced over at Kakashi, who stood silently next to Sakura and Sai. Sakura, however, was making her way over to Inaré, who met her halfway and engaged her in cheerful conversation, the wolf forever in the girl's shadow. Haku looked over at Sai, saw him scowling, and waved pleasantly at him.

"So it was wild, what you and that snake guy did," Naruto commented as the first names were called- Temari versus Tenten. "You two were like lightning!"

Sasuke laughed.

"How long were you watching before you finally decided to step in and help?" He asked playfully, grinning at the blonde. Naruto shrugged.

"I dunno, it looked like you had it handled. I mean, until you didn't," he replied, almost sheepishly as Sasuke shrugged in reluctant agreement. "Besides, your teammates weren't helping you either. So I figured you wanted it that way."

"I suppose you thought correctly then," Sasuke replied, a little uncomfortably. He tilted his head to the side to dodge a massive ninja star that Tenten had summoned as Naruto jumped. _Oh yeah… that's because… _He shook his head and smiled at Naruto. "Well, either way, I'm fine and whatever that guy wanted, he didn't get."

_And he's never going to. Not if I have anything to say about it. _

Naruto's face turned into one of approval, and he nodded.

"Good," he stated. "Guy was a creep." Sasuke laughed, nodding.

"Yes," he replied. "Yes he was."

A few minutes later saw the match over, with Temari as the victor and Tenten being carted away by medics. The next names were Shikamaru and Kin.

"So what happened to your hair, Sakura-chan?" Inaré asked as they stood next to each other, leaning on the railing as they watched the next match begin. Sakura shrugged.

"Another team decided to play dirty to get our scrolls," she replied, her eyes flickering over to Kin with something akin to hatred. "I just did what I had to do."

Inaré blinked at her for a moment before smiling, lifting a hand and running her fingers through Sakura's hair affectionately.

"I like it better short anyway," she stated. "It looks a lot better on you. Makes you look like more of a badass."

Sakura looked at Inaré and beamed at her.

"R-really?" She asked tentatively, eyes sparkling. "I thought it made me look boyish."

"Boyish isn't a bad thing," Inaré reassured her. "You look great."

Sasuke's gaze went to Kakashi, who looked lazily at the second match with his single eye before nonchalantly raising his gaze to connect it with Sasuke's. The boy found himself uncontrollably beaming at his old teacher. They hadn't interacted at all since Sasuke had woken up, and the boy ached to go over there and talk to the man. To find out that his old teacher had such history with him, after so long was… almost surreal. And he knew that he got to experience a softer side to Kakashi that regular people never saw in their entire lives. Kakashi was not one to be so open, and Sasuke felt honored that he had been one of the rare people Kakashi bared himself to. For a moment, he wondered why he hadn't lied to Kakashi too, and denied that he was the long lost Uchiha boy, but then he immediately knew why. Kakashi's voice had been so… hopeful, so painfully sincere… And besides, he had been smart enough to figure it out. Silently, Sasuke wondered how life would've been if Kakashi had actually been allowed to step in when he had needed it most.

"I've heard a lot about your teacher, Kakashi Hatake," Sasuke commented to Naruto, his eyes still lingering on Kakashi for a moment before he looked back to the blonde. "He's a very good man."

Naruto blinked at him and grinned.

"He's a gigantic pain in the ass," he replied cheerfully, making Sasuke laugh - probably a little harder than he should have. "But he's a great teacher. I've learned a lot from him."

"I'm sure he has a lot to teach you," Sasuke stated, almost proudly. "You're really lucky."

"Yeah, I suppose," Naruto breathed, leaning over the railing as he watched the second match finish with Shikamaru as the winner. "As lucky as I can be, I guess."

Sasuke could sense what he was thinking about, and looked away with a frown. Sadly, he closed his eyes.

_I can't, Naruto. _He thought bitterly. _I love my life the way it is. I just… can't._

"Round three! Naruto and Kiba!"

Naruto blinked at the announcement and stretched his arms over his head.

"All right!" He exclaimed. "Get ready, Kiba! I'm gonna kick your ass!" He looked at Sasuke and beamed, grinning from ear to ear. "Wish me luck!"

Sasuke smiled broadly at him.

"Good luck, Naruto."

With that, the blonde jumped down into the ring.

**End Chapter Seventeen – Begin the Preliminaries**

**And so begins the awesome. **

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**Much love!**

**DDB**


	34. Flashback Seventeen: Falling

**Why herrrrrrowr there. :3**

**Enjoy this latest update!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Seventeen – Falling**

_When the first light appeared in the sky, the group journeying to Andora resumed their trek, Patzu in front. _

_Tyra and her charge followed silently, with Zabuza and his two boys bringing up the rear. Ever since his interaction with the woman, the great man seemed to be in a constant state of suspended, exasperated rage. It put Haku and Sasuke on immediate edge, but all the same, it helped him fulfill his role as a slave-trader quite well, with all the yanking and the snapping and just, Gods the __**anger**__. _

_**So angry…! **__Sasuke thought painfully as Zabuza jerked on his ropes again. __**You're so angry-!**_

_But they couldn't ask him anything. Patzu took them into the mountains again, and sound echoed outrageously in the wide caverns he led them through. _

"_They say the monsters that live in these mountains are quite fearsome," Patzu informed them as they walked, almost proudly. Tyra raised an eyebrow, having quite successfully ignored the glowering, withering glares Zabuza had continuously sent her way thus far. _

"_Have you ever encountered any of them?" She asked, her charge silent upon her back. Patzu shrugged, the torches they wielded their only current source of light. _

"_Not me personally, no," he replied without looking over his shoulder at her. "But I've heard stories."_

"_Ah," she stated with a mild frown. "That's not particularly impressive then, is it?"_

_This time, Patzu turned to look at her._

"_You __**dare **__challenge the power that resides in these mountains?" He asked her, eyes going wide as he tried to loom over her, attempting to strike some fear into her heart._

_Unfortunately, he watched his attempt at intimidation crash and burn quite pathetically as she raised a quite not-intimidated eyebrow at him. _

"_I would challenge the Gods themselves if they had the nerve to show their faces to me, __**fool**__," she told him icily, with a wicked glare that had his toes curling in his boots. Scowling, he turned to look back at the front, and they continued without another word for a while. _

"_Careful here," Patzu told them after a while more. "Watch where you step. We're crossing a bridge."_

_**A bridge? **__Sasuke asked silently. __**But there are no railings. It's impossible to see anything outside the light of the torches.**_

_But suddenly as he continued to walk, he felt it. He could feel the road they walked on narrow dramatically, and all of a sudden he didn't quite feel as if he were on such solid ground as before. He couldn't see, but he could feel the ground beneath them open up into a deep, angry, hungry chasm, and he swallowed thickly as he resisted the urge to look down. _

_So badly, he wanted to ask how long the bridge lasted, but he bit his tongue as he glanced at Zabuza's back, forcing his breathing to remain calm._

_**I'm freaking out. **__He realized. There was nothing like knowing there was an unforgiving terror at your feet and yet be unable to see it. A fear that didn't have a face – __**that**__ struck true horror into a heart. Reaching almost blindly forward, he clenched Haku's clothing in his hand and fought to keep from screaming. _

_The bridge was so narrow they were forced to go single-file. Sasuke could feel the scream of dread pressing at the back of his throat as he could __**feel **__bits and pieces of rock crumbling from beneath their feet and falling endlessly downwards, but he grit his teeth against it. _

_**We're going to make it. **__He told himself. __**Oh my God. I am SO freaking out. Oh Gods!**_

_The air seemed to get thicker as everyone realized how treacherous this portion of the journey was, and Zabuza seemed to clench his torch tighter, his steps becoming lighter as even Tyra began to tread more cautiously. _

_Suddenly the ground beneath their feet seemed to quiver, and they all simultaneously paused as they felt it as one._

_**Oh no. **__Sasuke thought, his eyes widening. __**Oh no, please no-!**_

_The shivering began to turn into a violent shake-_

"_It's an earthquake!" Patzu called. "Make a run for it!"_

_Breaking into a dash as the rock roof above them started to drip crumbs; the group ran as fast as they could on such a narrow bridge to the other side that still remained in darkness. Behind them, they could hear the bridge collapsing-_

_Sasuke felt the ground give way beneath him. Reaching out, he clamped down onto Haku's clothing._

"_NO!"_

_He felt himself fall down, down, down into the abyss as the torches lit the way, going out mid-descent as he vanished into darkness. _

"_HAKU! SASUKE!"_

"_MOLLY!"_

* * *

_When Sasuke awoke, it was only to wonder if he was dead, for blindness was the only thing that met his eyes. He was cold, and his entire body ached, and it was the pain that truly told him he was still alive. _

_**Dammit.**_

"_Sasuke?"_

_His eyes snapped open, and he lifted himself into a sitting position. He recognized that voice._

"_Haku?" _

_The voice wasn't right next to him, but it wasn't far away either. He swallowed, closing his eyes against the darkness and becoming horrified when he couldn't tell the difference between the two. _

"_Yes. Are you all right?"_

"_Yeah. You?"_

"_I must say, I've been better."_

_Clothes rustled, and the entire area was thrown in a warm (bright) orange light as Haku pulled out an emergency glow stick from his clothes and cracked it. Sasuke felt the life come back to him with the light._

_Haku was fine. Dirty and unhappy, but fine. Sasuke crawled over to him and wrapped him in a hug._

"_That was terrifying."_

"_I know, my dear."_

"_Where's Zabuza?"_

"_I don't know. He didn't fall down with us. He must be in a separate part of the caves."_

_Sasuke withdrew from Haku and looked around, pushing himself into a stand. They were surrounded on pretty much all four sides by sheer rock walls. Loose boulders and debris around them were obviously from the collapsed bridge that had tumbled down right alongside them. It was a relatively large area, with at least enough room to stretch and walk around, but the cliffs on all sides were severely unnerving. Sasuke tilted his head upwards to stare up into the darkness, his heart sinking even as his eyes rose._

_**How in the fucking hell are we going to get out of here?**_

"_Oh!"_

_At Haku's exclamation, Sasuke dropped his eyes to see that the small blonde girl had fallen down with them, miraculously unharmed with the ripped remains of the satchel wrapped around her. Her eyes were closed, but as Sasuke neared her to see if she was okay she opened her big, empty black eyes, silently moving as she pushed herself off her belly and into a stand, letting the pieces of satchel fall at her ankles without protest. Sasuke, even more unnerved at the coolness of which she did so, paused mid-step towards her._

"_Are you all right?" He finally managed to ask her, not willing to get any closer. Blinking, she turned those great big eyes onto him, and Sasuke felt his stomach curdle beneath her gaze. _

_**What is UP with this kid?!**_

"_Yes," she stated monotonously, her voice as empty as her eyes. It made the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck stand right up to attention. "I'm fine." Falling silent, her gaze swept the length of the cave to focus on a spot that Sasuke hadn't looked at yet. Her eyes narrowed the slightest bit. "Oh."_

_Sasuke, uneasy but at the same time intrigued, followed her gaze and let out a sharp gasp._

_Patzu had fallen down with them._

**End Flashback Seventeen – Falling**

**Woot. So, shameless advertising, but I wrote a KakaSasu spin-off from this same universe called Bare-Chested Suffering.**

**It's so sweet and wonderful. Please go read it an tell me what you thought? *puppy eyes***

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	35. The Fight is On!

**I love writing this story.**

**Please love reading it. *heart***

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Eighteen – The Fight is On!**

After much teeth grinding, nail biting, and hair pulling, Naruto managed to get the slightest drop on Kiba, resulting in an explosion of dog hair and Chakra that had Naruto skidding across the floor to smack into the far wall.

However, he managed to get to his feet as Kiba and Akamaru smoldered at the center of the room, and he was declared the winner.

"Woo!" Sasuke cheered with Inaré and Sakura, jumping for joy. "That was a close one! Go Naruto!"

"Yay! Go blockhead!" Sakura exclaimed as Naruto managed to drag himself back up to the viewing balcony, grinning from ear to ear. Making their way over to him, Sasuke and Sakura took him by the shoulders and helped him up before Sai could get there, helping him over to the group. "You did so great Naruto! I can't believe it!"

"Well, what can I say? I was inspired," the blonde replied with a beaming smile, winking at Sasuke, who laughed.

"I guess I underestimated you cutie," Inaré commented, bending over at the hips to be eye level with him and winking at him. Tired though he was, he wasn't tired enough to resist her charm. He blushed, beginning to stutter and trying not to stare at her cleavage. "I can't wait to see more of what you can do."

Naruto took it completely the wrong way, and as his blush and brain damage worsened Sasuke rolled his eyes with a grin and tugged Inaré back into a standing position, shaking his head at her as she giggled.

"What?" She asked as Sakura smacked Naruto over the head to get him to stop babbling, a vein at her temple pulsing. She and Sasuke turned back to face the arena, putting their elbows on the railing as they stood together, shoulder to shoulder. "He _is _cute."

"I fully agree, but that's not the point," Sasuke replied under his breath in amusement as Inaré knowingly grinned at him. "You're gonna give the poor kid a heart attack."

Inaré only giggled, and Sasuke rolled his eyes again as the next pair of names were called: Neji versus Hinata.

"Oh man, seriously?" Naruto whined, back to his senses and nursing a bump on his head. "That can't be good."

Inaré turned to Naruto, blinking in confusion.

"Why?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

"They're related, aren't they?" Sasuke asked, though it was more of a statement than a question, turning a little to look at the blonde, one forearm still on the railing. Naruto blinked.

"How did you know?" He asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, besides the fact that they have the same last name…" he responded pointedly, making Naruto wince. "They have the same eyes. It must be the same bloodline, which means they _have _to be related."

"You know of the Hyuuga bloodline, Sasuke?" Inaré asked curiously, innocently. Sasuke gave her a knowing smirk before nodding.

"A little," he replied. "You're gonna like this." He looked back to the first floor as the cousins stood facing each other. "When that bloodline is activated… they can see _through _things."

Inaré gasped in excitement.

"Oh, really?" She asked eagerly, making Sasuke giggle.

"Uh-huh," he replied. "That's putting it in simple terms though. Apparently they can train their bloodline to see a huge slew of things. It's like they literally have eyes in the back of their head. That's where the saying 'might as well surprise a Hyuuga' comes from. Can't be done. At least that's the myth."

"You think they can?" Inaré asked, leaning closer to him to make it a more personal conversation as he turned back around, effectively shutting everyone else out. "How come?"

"Calm down, my darling," he cooed, making her pout as the cousins fought with their deadly Gentle Fist style, explosions of Chakra filling the air. His voice lowered as he spoke to her. "They can have omnipotence only as long as that bloodline is activated. But that's a constant drain on their Chakra. No one can hold it forever, and certainly not a Genin."

"You could," Inaré told him fondly, batting her eyelashes at him. Sasuke giggled and nudged her in the shoulder playfully.

"Oh hush," he berated her gently, an amused twinkle in his eye.

Sooner rather than later, the match ended with Neji as the winner, with Hinata on her side coughing up blood as the medics rushed to her. Sasuke pouted as he watched.

"She did so well," he breathed in awe. "Such a mighty eagle spawning from such a tiny rabbit…"

"She didn't give up," Inaré agreed. "It was admirable."

"It was stupid," Zabuza stated sternly, making them all turn to look at him. He leaned against the wall to the left of the group, arms crossed. Naruto leaped up to defend Hinata, but Zabuza beat him to the punch. "It was only pride that drove her. That 'mighty eagle' is now dying because she refused to admit that she was outmatched from the beginning and she went after it anyway. Admirable, sure. But it was also stupid. Wise fighters pick and choose their battles. Running makes you a coward, sure, but those who fight every battle die much more quickly. The coward lives to fight another day. The coward can live long enough to even win."

There was a solemn silence at his words. Even Naruto had to think about them for a moment.

"Even if that is the case…" he breathed harshly. "She had to prove herself. Neji never respected her. He only put up with her. And Hinate deserves better than that." Raising his eyes, he locked eyes with Zabuza and scowled. "She proved herself today to be better than how Neji treated her. I won't let you trash talk that!"

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at Naruto, and glanced at Sasuke before looking back at Naruto and shrugging.

"Whatever you say," he replied dismissively, looking away. "Every situation is different, I guess."

The horror that Naruto might recognize Zabuza faded from Sasuke's being as awe took its place.

_Did Zabuza… _he thought in amazement. _…just fold to a __**kid**__?_

So that was what the look had been.

_I can see why you like him so much, Sasuke. _Zabuza thought fondly as Naruto seemed satisfied enough to turn away from Zabuza and look back to the arena floor. Sasuke's eyes lingered on his teacher for a moment before he turned to look down as well. Zabuza smiled beneath the scarf. _He's a tough little oyster, that one._

"Next match! Haku and Gaara!"

Sasuke blinked as the next name was called, and he turned to his quiet teammate, beaming.

"Go get 'im, tiger!" He cheered, wrapping Haku up in a hug. Smiling, Haku returned the embrace.

"I shall," he replied happily. He made a modest kitty-claw at Sasuke with one hand. "Rowr."

That made Sasuke break out into mad giggles, and he snuggled Haku a little more before releasing him with a grin.

"I adore you!" He cooed ecstatically before allowing Inaré to wish him good luck herself. She kissed Haku on the cheek, holding his hand tightly.

"Kick some ass," she stated, nodding to him. Haku got the closest he could to a grin, Moira chirping happily at his shoulder.

"Haku." He turned to see Sasuke gazing at him intently. At the glance, Sasuke nodded at him. "Don't forget…"

Haku nodded to him.

"It's the first thing I thought of," he replied reassuringly before he nodded to Zabuza and turned, jumping down into the ring where Gaara was already waiting for him.

_If you have to, do it… _Sasuke thought sadly. _But Naruto WILL recognize you if you use your mirrors. If you can win without, do it. _He closed his eyes and signed. _I hate this. I hate hiding. But we have to._

Rising into a stand, Haku smiled at Gaara and bowed to him.

"I hope you are as excited as I am," Haku greeted pleasantly. "May we both do our best!"

Gaara, arms crossed, didn't respond, staring at Haku with cold indifference.

"So it begins…" Temari breathed, eyes alight with excitement. Kankuro grinned.

"Haha, yep!" He exclaimed. He clenched a fist, thrust it into the air. "The fight is on!"

**End Chapter Eighteen – The Fight is On!**

**So kudos and a half to whoever knows what video game character's catch-phrase is the title of this chapter... ;3**

**Here's a hint: it's from a ridiculously popular fighting game that's had three incarnations over the past ten years.**

**At least I'm pretty sure it's ten. **

**Did you enjoy? Let me know? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	36. Flashback Eighteen: Safety

**Hey guys. I wrote this up less than a minute ago.**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Eighteen – Safety**

"_Ah, Gods… fuck me… what the hell was that?" She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, feeling her bones creak as she held her head. "Dammit… that mother-fucker… I'm gonna kill him!"_

"_That depends. Which mother-fucker are you talking about?"_

_Her head snapped sideways as a bright orange light made her jerk her gaze away, and she shielded her eyes. _

"_Gah…" she grunted, lifting herself up into a standing position and brushing herself off. "You fuck little boys, not mothers, so it's probably safe to say that I'm not talking about you."_

"_Will you shut up about that?" Zabuza snapped irritably as he, waving the glow stick to shake up its contents, stood with her. "We don't know who else is down here with us."_

"_Right. You're totally concerned about our safety. __**That's **__why you want me to stop talking about it." She looked around, unable to see anything outside of halo of light made by Zabuza's glow stick. "Well, Molly seems to fine. And don't worry; your boys are too."_

_Zabuza raised an eyebrow at her._

"_How can you tell?" _

_Tyra looked at him, raising a return brow._

"_You can't?" She asked, making Zabuza scowl at her. _

"_We need to get to them," the man said, looking around as well. "If that pervert Patzu didn't fall with us, then he's probably with them."_

"_**He's **__the pervert?" Tyra asked incredulously as she stood at the border of light, looking out at the darkness. "Please. You two should get together and write about pedophilia over tea and bare-chested young men."_

"_I'll kill you, I swear," Zabuza warned monotonously without looking at her. Silently, Tyra rolled her eyes. _

"_It looks like the cave we're in isn't that big," she observed. "Our voices aren't echoing that loudly, which means we must be in a small place. We probably fell down some kind of natural air shaft."_

"_Or into the nest of some obscene monster," Zabuza deadpanned. _

"_You have such a positive outlook on life," she replied simply, walking around a little. "It's a wonder you made it this far without killing yourself."_

"_I just think it's better to be prepared for the worst than to not be," Zabuza defended, maybe pouting a little. "It's how I've survived."_

"_Yes, survived and lived such a fulfilling and happy life," Tyra responded, peering upwards into the darkness with squinted eyes. "There's cold air coming down from over here. We might be able to climb up to where the kids are."_

"_Well, seeing as how your kid is like a giant fucking homing beacon," the man snapped in exasperation. "Lead the fucking way."_

_Tyra finally looked at him to raise an eyebrow._

"_You're pouting."_

"_AM NOT."_

_**Dammit.**_

_Tyra was gracious enough to drop it there, and she looked upwards to where she felt the air and motioned at Zabuza with a hand._

"_Gimme that stick."_

_**I'll give you a Goddamn stick… **__Zabuza pouted silently as he slapped it in her hand, reaching into his pocket to pull out another one. She raised it upwards._

"_Yeah, there's a tunnel in the ceiling," she informed him before biting the object in her teeth. She took one of the machetes from her belt and crouched, readying herself to jump upwards._

_Leaping up into the tunnel, Tyra lifted the blade and sank it into one of the sides, dangling half-in and half-out of the shaft._

"_Need some help there, Alice?" Zabuza asked in amusement._

"_Uc oo," she responded from around the glow stick, making him smirk. With the other hand, she freed her mouth for a moment. "Yeah, it's definitely some sort of tunnel. It's not completely vertical but it's pretty damn close. Follow me, and be careful with that damned sword of yours."_

"_Worry about yourself, princess," Zabuza replied as he shifted his sword on his back so it was more vertical. "I can handle myself."_

_The entire sexual innuendo that was going on his brain was almost too much to bear. _

_**She better do something SUPER unsexy soon. **__Zabuza thought grimly as she took her other machete and sank it into the stone as well, pulling herself completely up. __**Otherwise I just might be in a shitload of trouble. **_

"_Can you see how far it goes?" He called up._

"_No," she replied after a moment. "But we really don't have any other option. We have no idea where we are and neither do the kids."_

"_True enough," Zabuza relented as he watched her vanish, jumping up after her and sinking a pair of kunai into the stone wall, his glow stick dangling from around his neck. "Can't you move any faster?"_

"_Will you shut the fuck up?" She snapped, taking the stick from out of her mouth. "Like you badgering me is making me move any faster." To solidify her argument, she kicked one of the hands holding the kunai, and he winced, almost letting go._

"_Gods, you're such a bitch," he swore, following her upwards._

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever," she replied as she turned to continue. "You're attracted."_

_Try as he might, he could __**not **__argue that. He scowled._

_**Damn you, you… attractive devil woman!**_

"_I hate you," was the only reply he could manage. She smirked from around the glow stick._

"_You better not be looking at my butt, pervert," she called behind her. Zabuza rolled his eyes._

"_Oh, yeah, I'm so __**not **__focused on not dying that your butt is the only thing I can think about," he snapped sarcastically. "Your __**butt**__ is that high on my to-do list." At her snigger, he mentally kicked himself. This woman made him feel like a fucking twelve-year-old boy. "Fuck you, I'm not talking to you anymore!"_

"_Sure," she stated. "We'll see how long that lasts."_

_Silently, they managed to make their way up the shaft and they emerged in a much larger cavern, their glow sticks barely making a dent in the darkness. Here, even the sound of their breathing seemed to echo._

"_Are they close?" Zabuza asked as he pulled himself up out of the tunnel, Tyra already up on her feet and looking around._

"_I thought you weren't talking to me," she replied nonchalantly._

"_Fuck you," he stated simply as he readjusted his sword. "Are they close?"_

"_Closer than they were before, at least," she responded. But then a frown creased her face. "I can't help but feel like we're not alone in here though." She lifted the glow stick a little higher, walking around in a small circle. "Like something's watching us."_

"_I don't hear anything," Zabuza breathed as they both simultaneously went quiet, eying the darkness outside of their man-made light. The tension seemed to build and build as the sensation of being watched grew more and more powerful. _

_Suddenly there was a massive roar that blasted both sets of ears, and they winced, covering the organs as the sound shook the entire cavern and rebounded tenfold._

"_WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Tyra yelled, her voice drowned out by the sound. Zabuza couldn't answer her anyway, because he didn't know himself. Before their eyes, a string of lights erupted into existence, throwing the entire cavern into light. _

_The source of the light was a giant __**bug**__, each section of its back having two lights on either side, a single light on its forehead. A reddish-brown in color, it was gigantically fat, towering above them like a five-story building as it sat in front of them, its multitude of legs wiggling uselessly in the air. It had two large black compound eyes on both sides of its head (one set smaller than the other), and when it opened its mouth there were rows and rows of circular sets of teeth that dripped yellow ooze._

"_That's disgusting," Tyra commented, wincing. "I hate bugs."_

"_This one hates you too," Zabuza replied. Tyra shot him a look. _

"_Is that supposed to __**comfort **__me?"_

"_Watch out!"_

_Opening its mouth, the bug began the battle, sending itself downwards to crash on top of them._

**End Flashback Eighteen – Safety**

**Yes, I am completely aware that Zabuza's a wee-bit OOC when he speaks to Tyra, but hey, love does that. *heart***

**Did you enjoy? You should review.**

**MUCH LOVE!**

**DDB**


	37. Parasol

**And here we discover the outcome of Haku's fight with Gaara...**

**DundunnunUN!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Nineteen – Parasol**

The beginning of the match was announced, and sand immediately poured out of Gaara's gourd, surrounding him in dust and grit. Haku, in response, simply took a hand to his belt as Moira sailed off-

-and unhooked a red and white-striped parasol, opening it and resting it on his shoulder, twirling it a little with a smile as his face was thrown in shadow.

"Huh?" Naruto asked incredulously as Sasuke and Inaré smiled proudly. "Doesn't he know that's bad luck?"

"_Umbrellas_ are bad luck, Naruto," Sasuke corrected. "That's a parasol."

Naruto pouted.

"There's a difference?"

Sasuke laughed.

"Sure," he replied, even though there really wasn't. "Umbrellas protect you from the rain. Parasols protect you from the sun."

Naruto blinked in confusion, cocking his head.

"But there's no sun in here," he argued childishly. Sasuke laughed at him.

"Just watch, you dummy," he told the blonde fondly. Continuing to pout, Naruto obeyed and turned back to the match.

Immediately, sand lashed out for Haku, and the teen leaped up into the air, stretching the parasol high above his head. As the sand reached up for him, Haku danced upon the crests of the waves of earth like he was floating, twirling out of reach of the sand as the parasol seemed to hold up much more weight than it should have. He was weightless as the sand attacked him, constantly out of its reach and slowly making his way to the other side of the arena, behind Gaara with a serene smile on his face.

"Coooooool…" Naruto breathed in amazement.

Leaping off one crest of sand, Haku whirled in midair, pointing the tip of the open parasol at Gaara and spinning the object in his hand.

As it spun, needles shot out the edges of the object, whistling through the air as they launched themselves upon Gaara.

Immediately, the sand at Gaara's feet rose, absorbing the needles before they made contact and vindictively shooting them back at the water ninja.

Haku, still in the air, shrank behind his parasol, hiding behind it completely as the needles struck the object, harmlessly clanking against it and falling to innocently clatter against the arena floor.

When the assault finished, Haku reappeared, spiraling down to the earth with the weight of a feather.

_Interesting. _He thought as the sand gathered around its master, almost pulsating. Gaara hadn't even moved an inch. _The sand protected him. Almost like it has a life of its own. He hasn't even moved to pretend that he controls it. He just lets the sand do all his fighting for him._

His eyes narrowed as he landed softly, the only sign of any possible annoyance on his otherwise serene face.

_It's almost like cheating._

As soon as he landed, the sand hunted for him again, and Haku closed his parasol with a snap, pointing it at the mass as it went for him and bracing himself.

The parasol split the mass in two, cutting it down the middle as it pooled around Haku's feet, rising into the air around him.

Of course, that meant almost the entirety of the sand was focused on Haku, and almost none was at Gaara's side. There was enough distance between the two for the balance of power to be obvious.

As the sand crashed down from above, Haku vanished with a thought.

Reappearing in front of Gaara – putting the most distance he could between the attack and the sand – he held a ridiculously large senbon needle in hand and thrust it upwards towards Gaara's chest; the closest target that he could manage at the angle. He didn't know how fast the sand's reaction time was-

Gaara looked down, saw the needle, and his eyes even had a chance to widen before the sand was there to block the blow, absorbing the needle into itself and firing it back out at Haku.

Barely, Haku managed to dodge his own weapon, skidding backwards with one hand lightly gracing the floor.

_I was close. _He thought. _Just not close enough. There is no thought behind the sand's actions. If I strike, it has to be to kill. No other attack is going to faze him. My parasol isn't going to work._

"Is it just me, or is that some seriously overpowered sand?" Inaré asked as she observed the match. Sasuke was quiet as he watched with intent. Discomfortingly quiet. She looked at her partner worriedly. "Sasuke?"

Speeding along the ground, the sand raced to Haku as he fiddled at his belt, opening up a small sack of water and reattaching his parasol.

As the sand reached out to attack him, Haku thrust forward with a palm, water that he summoned with it giving his hand enough force to slice completely through the sand, the material the water touched hitting the ground with a liquid thud, turning into useless mud. Haku smiled pleasantly.

_Perfect._

In a flicker of water vapor, Haku vanished and reappeared at Gaara's side, slashing forward with a water-lined thrust of the same power.

Sand rose to meet it and Haku sliced it apart as it absorbed the blow. With his other hand, Haku took more water from the pouch and thrust forward with it again-

This time, when the sand reappeared around Gaara, it hardened into earth, and Haku's attack merely cracked the surface. Haku repeated the motion-

Spikes erupted out of the sand shield that Gaara created, one narrowly missing both Haku's temple and vital organs. Gasping, Haku leaped away, and he could feel his upper arm bleeding beneath his sleeve where a spike had managed to heartily pierce it. Quietly, he looked down at the sand at his feet, which hadn't moved after it had mixed with the water.

_Interesting. _Haku thought, kneeling down to rub the mixture in between his fingers. _This sand isn't like the sand of the ocean. That sand separates from water, settles back down to the bottom. This sand must be earthier. At least, earthier enough to make mud. _Raising his eyes, he looked at the earthy dome. _Once it mixes with water, he lacks the strength to call it back because then, it's no longer sand. But… _he glanced up at Sasuke. _I don't have enough water to change it all. _

Sasuke, who had been silently watching the entire match, caught the glance and nodded, and then lifted his eyes to lock gazes with Kakashi.

Not seeming to acknowledge the message, Kakashi looked over at his last remaining student, Sai, who was angrily drinking a bottle of water and glaring across the arena to where the rest of his teammates were. Kakashi, chuckling, pushed himself off the wall.

"Don't worry, Sai." He gave Sai a hearty clap on the back. "They'll remember you exist eventually."

The force was great enough to make Sai flinch; dropping the half-full bottle of water, which then fell to the arena floor. Sai turned to glare at his teacher, and Haku smiled in grateful disbelief. Kakashi shrugged at Sai's glare.

"My bad," he replied nonchalantly, lifting his gaze back up to Sasuke and raising his single eyebrow a couple of times at him after Sai looked away. Sasuke, chortling, turned his head to giggle into Inaré's shoulder. Haku mentally shrugged.

_Well, every little bit helps. _

He dashed forward, taking the remaining water out of the sack and pooling it in his hand as he passed the puddle Sai's bottle had made, reaching down and pulling it to him as he ran, then circling around and dashing for the shield.

Just as he neared, the shield lowered and the sand withdrew, curling upwards like flower petals and revealing the bright red hair of the back of Gaara's head - circling it like a halo for the target that it was.

_No other strike will count._

Silently, amassing all the water he had into his right palm, Haku placed a needle into the water and leaped into the air, sailing through the opening the sand had created directly towards Gaara.

_It has to be to kill!_

Gaara, as if on instinct, turned and looked up.

_Now!_

His eyes widened.

Haku sliced through the sand that rose to meet him as if it were butter, the needle and its halo of water bursting through Gaara's defense.

Gaara moved to the side to dodge the blow, the needle slicing him neatly across his right temple.

He roared, and at his rage the sand slammed upwards into Haku's chest, making Inaré cry out as her teammate was lifted into the air by the ankle and thrown across the room like a rag doll, sailing towards the opposite wall. Sasuke immediately tensed up, his fingers gripping the railing so hard his knuckles went white.

Haku, grimacing as he flew, instinctively went to his belt and opened his parasol, which caught him midair and allowed him to float harmlessly down to the ground as he gasped. Well, harmlessly enough.

The teen tried to straighten, found that he couldn't without considerable pain, and realized he must've broken a significant amount of his ribcage – maybe even punctured a lung. The sand had not been gentle with its retaliation, and he could see the anger it carried as it rolled and churned around its master, who was shaking in what seemed to be absolute rage.

"Oh dear…" Temari breathed. "This isn't gonna be pretty."

"Did I see that right, Temari?" Kankuro asked. "Did he… did he really make Gaara _bleed_?"

Gaara raised his head, an angry sneer contorting his face as blood poured from his temple, covering the right side of his face.

_Well, at least that got his expression to change. _Haku thought dryly. _Oh dear. It's become rather difficult to breathe. _

"No one… has ever…" Gaara gasped, unable to properly speak without pausing every few moments. "…caused me pain…" He raised his eyes to lock gazes with Haku, and Haku swallowed in shock as he locked eyes with something not quite human. "Congratulations, _human_."

But like a demon.

_Like-_

Sasuke blinked.

_Human?_

Gaara let out another angry cry.

"BUT NOW YOU DIE!"

The sand, as one great monster, rose upwards as a single mighty wave, towering over Haku and rising towards the ceiling. Haku gazed upwards at it in awe, and realized that even more sand was pouring out from the gourd – the weapon, the shield, the devil – and filling the entire room. There wasn't enough water in a five-mile radius to neutralize that creature of hell. Haku's eyes narrowed, and he lifted the last hand he had and closed his eyes-

_I have to disappear-_

Then he opened his eyes and gasped, stopping himself just in time as the sand crashed downwards. He looked to Sasuke, his expression torn between saving himself and saving Sasuke's life. Haku smiled softly at his partner, and lowered his hand.

_I can't._

Sasuke seemed to realize it at the same exact time Haku did. He reached down and snatched Inaré's hand in his, and he silently told her the same thing. As one, they jumped onto the railing and leaped down towards Haku.

"Haku!"

"Moira!"

A shrill screech of a bird filled the air, and as the sand fell like a river of doom a bright light erupted from around Haku, the sand almost burning away as a mighty shield of Chakra in the form of a bird's wings burst through its body, the force of the attack-turned-defense taking up quite literally half the room as the cry intensified to a level where it was powerful enough to shatter glass. Everyone in the room had to cover their ears as the exchange of powers peaked.

A few moments passed and the light faded, the sand withdrawing backwards to linger at Gaara's side as he watched, eyes twitching. The light faded to reveal that Sasuke and Inaré had come to Haku's aid, Haku's bird nestled in the palm of Sasuke's hand, his wings open towards Gaara. Inaré had Haku in her arms, and Sasuke was between them and Gaara, braced to withstand Moira's power.

In the silence, Moira fell from Sasuke's palm, fluttering back up into the air and tweeting faintly as Inaré gathered Haku up in her arms.

"You could've done it," Sasuke breathed, turning to look at his teammate. "You could've saved yourself. Why didn't you?"

Haku, leaning heavily on Inaré, merely smiled at him.

"I couldn't, Sasuke," he replied simply. "I promised you."

Biting his lip, Sasuke turned away to lock eyes with Gaara, and he felt rage rise within his breast as he absorbed the fury-filled gaze the redhead had.

_This is my fault. Dammit!_

"Because others intervened in the match on Haku's behalf, the match win goes to Gaara!"

"I'm not finished yet…" Gaara growled, the sand rumbling around him. His fists clenched at his side. "Do you hear me?!" He threw his head upwards, crying out. "I'M NOT FINISHED YET!"

The sand launched itself forward towards the team of water again as Temari and Kankuro leaped forward to try to contain their teammate. Sasuke stared at Gaara before glancing up at Naruto.

_Human…_

He looked back to Gaara, the sand splitting into two groups and going after Haku from both sides.

_I just got an idea. _

Sasuke leaped forward, dashing in between the two attacks of sand as Zabuza appeared with Haku and Inaré and summoned a massive bubble around them, drowning the sand as it hit the barrier. The two teenagers were in good hands. Kakashi knew that as he watched his ex-student sprint directly for Gaara as Temari and Kankuro landed in the arena and dashed for him as well from the opposite side.

Still. He couldn't help but fight the need to jump down and help. Sasuke was _his _student. _He _was the one that babysat him, changed his diaper, read him books, soothed him when he was crying and alone-

_Stop, Kakashi. _He told himself, closing his eyes. _Stop. He's not a child anymore. _

As Sasuke neared, he leaped up into the air, sailing for the redhead. Sand jumped to Gaara's defense, and Sasuke – Chakra sizzling up and down his arm – punched through it mightily, opening up his palm to clap it against Gaara's forehead, his fingers settling into the other's hair.

As one, they fell to the ground, tumbling towards Temari and Kankuro in a flurry of sand and Chakra, Gaara's gourd rolling away to the far wall.

Finally, they settled, Gaara on his back and Sasuke straddling him, his palm still on the redhead's forehead as they both gasped.

"Get off him!" Temari exclaimed, taking her closed fan and sending it directly into Sasuke's torso, knocking him off her teammate with a grunt. As Kankuro and Temari kneeled next to Gaara, he opened his eyes.

They were calm, strangely calm. And the cut at his temple had stopped bleeding.

"Kankuro," he stated expressionlessly, acknowledging them each in turn. "Temari."

"What the hell?" Kankuro asked incredulously as he sat up, the sand floating his gourd back over to him. "You're back to normal?"

Gaara looked at him, scowled.

"Shut up," he stated simply as he stood. Sasuke, grunting, rolled over onto his side as Zabuza appeared next to him, kneeling.

"You okay brat?" He asked. Sasuke opened his eyes, the orbs completely and chillingly expressionless for a moment before life reappeared within and all was well again. Wincing, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah," he replied, taking Zabuza's offered hand and his teacher helped him up. "Is Haku going to be okay?" He looked over to see that Haku already being taken away by the medics, and his immediate instinct was to follow, but Zabuza caught him by the shoulder.

"You have to stay here," the man reminded him. "You have an exam to finish."

Sasuke knew he was right, and sighed. Inaré, still standing where she and Sasuke had protected Haku, looked down and frowned. Kneeling, she picked something off the ground.

Haku's parasol, a little dirty, but looked relatively unharmed otherwise. Inaré sighed, looking over at Sasuke and making eye contact with him.

"We'll avenge him, Sasuke," she breathed, knowing what he was thinking. "He'll be okay." She looked down at the object in her hands. "At least, his parasol will be."

**End Chapter Nineteen – Parasol**

**OH NO! *gasp***

**I love that you all rooted for Haku, and I'm sorry to disappoint you. But this was the more realistic of the two outcomes.**

**Review? I love you. :3**

**DDB**


	38. Flashback Nineteen: Fear

**Well aren't you guys lucky? Two sets of updates in two days!**

**Yeah, I love you guys. *heart***

**And I just wrote this up, soooo...**

**Enjoy! :3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept **

**Flashback Nineteen – Fear**

_Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat as Patzu stood, the man having recovered long before the boys and girl had. He smiled at child._

"_Well, I don't think that could've ended up any more perfectly than it did," the man commented with a cruel smirk. "Soon your guardians will be eaten alive by the __**Alrunath**__ larva, and there won't be anyone to save you now."_

"_**Alrunath**__?" Sasuke repeated relatively evenly, even though his heart shook in his breast. Slowly, he backed up to be nearer to Haku. He had to protect his brother, his friend, his __**family **__at all costs. He had to distract Patzu. Had to distract him until either Zabuza found them or he found a way out. "I've never heard of that before."_

_Patzu smiled._

"_The __**Alrunath **__is said to be a legendary creature that somehow found its way here from across the southern sea," the man replied, arms hanging at his sides and entire body stooped as he leered at them, the silent blonde girl standing in between him and the boys. She didn't even seem to be aware of the danger she was in, and Patzu seemed to be ignoring her, eyes solely on Haku and Sasuke. "A massive insect that could destroy forests and level cities by simply landing, its coloration said to be painted by the very hand of the gods. However, when the first one landed here on our continent, there was a massive earthquake, and the mountain it rested on broke beneath it. It fell into a cavern big enough to fit the moon in, vanishing from the sunlight."_

_**That's right. **__Sasuke thought. __**That's right. Keep him talking. Keep talking.**_

"_Oh wow," he replied, pretending to be enraptured. If only his life wasn't being threatened; it __**did **__sound like a fascinating story. "What happened to it then?"_

_Patzu seemed to take a strange joy in his superior knowledge, and his smile widened a little bit before continuing, taking another step forward. Sasuke fought the urge to flinch, and he reached behind him to take Haku's hand in his. He knew the other was looking for an escape route. It had always been their system; Sasuke was the distraction, and Haku was the knife that went into their opponent's backs. Sasuke didn't want to fight this time though._

_He just wanted to run. To run and find Zabuza and leave these awful mountains behind. _

"_It couldn't find its way out," Patzu replied serenely. "So it decided to live in the darkness. It would grow an egg within itself, die, and the new larva would eat the body of the first to live. And so for hundreds of years there has only been one, and the terror of such a thing haunts these mountains. Everybody thinks it's just a myth." He grinned tyrannically, and his voice rose in pitch. "But we know. We know differently, don't we?"_

_If Haku had found an escape, they didn't have a chance to exploit it. Shadows appeared all around them, and they and the girl immediately found them surrounded by people swathed in cloaks the same color as the steep rock walls. _

"_They'll be dead, and you'll be ours," Patzu stated with a smile as he pointed to Sasuke and Haku. Sasuke felt his heart drop into his stomach, and he reached behind him with his other hand to touch the wall pressing at Haku's back. __**Zabuza! ZABUZA! **__"They look enough like little girls, don't they? We'll go ahead and have our fun, and then we'll see how much we can sell their skins for!" _

_One of the men closest to the children took out a long, wickedly curved blade, the hat he wore pulled too far down his face and the scarf wrapped tightly around his face hiding any identifying properties._

"_Their organs too," he stated gruffly as Haku and Sasuke shrank closer together, Sasuke making sure to stand in front of the older male. "He's quite the pretty one. Maybe we'll keep the older one alive. I've wanted a slave for quite a while now. I'm sure nobody minds?"_

"_Only if you're willing to share," another man said lecherously, his voice higher in pitch as he pulled rope from his belt, untangling it. "Be good little boys now, and we promise you won't get hurt."_

"_N-no!" Sasuke stammered, fear choking him. "Please, don't do this! It won't end well for anyone!"_

"_Won't end well for you, you mean!" Another man cackled as Patzu neared, entering the circle of warriors. _

"_Haha, that fucking swordsman!" The man cried in glee. "Thinking he could keep such lovely little creatures all to himself! Ha, what a joke!" Kneeling down so that he was almost eye level with Sasuke, he grinned. "Now he's dead, and you're all mine."_

_**No. **__Sasuke thought in horror. __**Zabuza isn't dead. He's alive. **__He couldn't think of what to do. There was too many of them, it was too small of a space, Haku and he __**couldn't fight **__this many alone-!_

"_I wouldn't, if I were you."_

_The simple, emotionless statement caught everyone's attention, and they all looked down to see the ignored little girl standing there, hands at her sides and big, unnatural black eyes drowning in emptiness. _

"_It's a bad idea," she continued monotonously, moving until she was once again in between Sasuke, Haku, and the man at the center of the half-circle. Sasuke and Haku were backed up against a wall with no way out, and Sasuke once again marveled at this little girl's strangeness. "To attack them, I mean. You're dealing with something that you can't even begin to understand. To tangle with that…" she raised her eyes, giving the man in front a straight, even stare. "You'll all be slaughtered."_

_For a moment, there was dead, fearful silence as they almost believed it, and then they remembered that those words were coming out of the mouth of a tiny little girl a third of their height, and they all simultaneously laughed uproariously. The girl, however, wasn't shaken._

"_You're gonna regret it."_

_Slowly, she turned her head to look over her shoulder at Sasuke, and suddenly the boy understood._

_**Distraction.**_

"_You're gonna regret it."_

_**Now!**_

_Immediately, fighting the fear he felt beating at the back of his eyes, he leaped forward, sailing past the girl with kunai and fists flying. Haku, a split second later, followed suit. A couple dropped instantly with needles sticking out of their necks, completely unprepared, but then the shock vanished and the other members went into action, along with the twisted guide Patzu._

_The girl simply backed up to stand against the wall, placing the palms of her hands against the rock behind her back as she simply watched, eyes big and black and full of nothing. _

"_You're gonna regret it."_

**End Flashback Nineteen – Fear**

**Whoop! And there it is! **

**Did you like it? Could you review? I do reply to the reviews I get. :3**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	39. Eliminations

**Woot. Final update of probably the week.**

**Until next time!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty – Eliminations**

After the rather unsettling fight with Haku and Gaara, Sasuke was ushered back up to the viewing platforms as the next round of names were called: Zaku and Shino.

"What was that, Sasuke?" Zabuza asked him softly, leaning against the wall next to the teen as his student glowered.

"I'm not entirely sure…" Sasuke breathed, almost inaudible in fear of someone might hear them. Inaré looked over at them in worry, but seeing them talk in secrecy made her change her mind about walking over, and she looked back down to the fight, Haku's parasol clenched in her hands even as Sakura tried to console her. "It's exactly what Naruto has inside him though…" he lifted his eyes to look at Zabuza. "I think it might be a Tailed-Beast."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow.

"Two Tailed-Beasts in the same Chunin Exam?" He asked quietly before looking back to the battle. "Well. This just got interesting."

Sasuke looked just about ready to snap something vicious at him, but changed his mind with a huff and turned back to the match.

The match ended with Shino as the winner, the Sound ninja screaming as he was chased around by creepy crawlies. Inaré found that she couldn't look directly at Shino without getting goosebumps up her arms.

"Next up, Sakura and Ino!"

Inaré heartily wished Sakura good luck with a hug, and despite what a horrible mood Sasuke was in, watching his old pink-haired partner fight so well and so viciously was impressive. It brought a small smile to his face to see how much she had improved, and he was even feeling better enough to walk over and slide beside Inaré, snuggling against her. His partner, relieved, accepted him with open arms and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Unfortunately, the match ended in a draw, and both Sakura and Ino managed to pull themselves back up to the viewing balconies, Ino's own beautiful gold locks chopped and forgotten on the floor. Naruto went over to Sakura and they actually hugged, the blonde exclaiming how amazing she had been.

Inaré, smiling at Sakura, opened up her other arm and allowed the pink-headed girl to slip beneath it after Naruto finished gushing. The Hidden Mist Genin gave the girl a strong hug.

"I'm so happy for you," Inaré told her, Sasuke watching from her other side. "You didn't win, but you did so great. The fact that you managed to take control back after she mind-transferred you was just so awesome!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement, smiling at Sakura.

"You did wonderfully," he told her. "I'm sure your sensei's very proud of you."

Sakura, well aware that this was the first time they had really interacted, beamed at him.

"Thanks," she replied. Then she blinked, surveying him from around Inaré. "You know, even though you two have the same name, you're nothing like my old teammate. He…" her eyes narrowed, and she looked away in sadness. "He would never… congratulate me like that."

Annoyance crossed over Sasuke's face, and he scowled, looking away and rolling his eyes.

"Yeah…" he almost snapped irritably, making Inaré wince beside him. "I seem to be getting that a lot lately."

Well, his good mood was officially ruined. Sulking, he walked away to be closer to Zabuza, a visible scowl on his face. Pursing her lips, Inaré turned back to Sakura, telling her that he was still upset about what Gaara had done to Haku.

As they continued talking, the next match was called: Rock Lee versus Yoroi, the last remaining member of Kabuto's team. It was a pretty one-sided match, seeing as how Yoroi's sole marketable skill was that he could suck the Chakra out of his enemies and, well… Lee didn't have any. Within only a few minutes, Yoroi was a bruised and bloody pulp in the middle of the arena, and Lee was declared the winner. Looking up at Sakura, he grinned at her and gave her a big thumbs-up, and she was in a good enough mood to actually giggle at him, making him swoon.

After Lee was shuffled off by the medics, the next names were called: Choji and Dosu. Choji, terrified, tried to back out but found himself swiftly kicked into the arena by Ino's impatient boot. Dosu, meeting him there, made a nasty crack about Choji's weight, and-

"I AM NOT FAT, YOU PRICK! ALL RIGHT, IT'S _ON_!"

For all his attempts though, Choji found himself unconscious and the loser of the third-to-last match.

Sasuke, his stomach still rolling in rage and guilt at what happened to Haku, looked over to his old teacher, unconsciously seeking guidance.

Kakashi, raising his eyes from the arena, locked gazes with Sasuke. He merely blinked, and after a moment, closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to the right, his shoulders barely rising in a shrug. Then, nonchalantly, he lifted a hand and scratched an itch on his left shoulder.

As nondescript as it was, Sasuke understood perfectly.

"_These things happen. He'll be fine. You, however, need to watch yourself."_

Yes, the Curse Mark. Even now it stung and itched, like a fresh tattoo that he just _knew _wasn't going to heal. He had to control himself. Or be faced with his own demons.

"_There is something great and horrifying within you, Sasuke. Like a star that brings life to all things actually ready to explode, destroying all that worship it and beyond. A supernova on earth. That is what you are."_

His eyes narrowed as he thought, words from a strange creature from a long time ago still lingering in his mind, like a black cobweb he just couldn't get out of a dark corner of his thoughts.

"A terranova…" he breathed.

_"You must be careful with yourself, Sasuke Terranova. If you do not, everything around you will burn._

"_Again."_

He swallowed, closing his eyes as a troubled look passed over his face. Tilting his head back, he leaned it against the wall and raised his chin upwards, trying to regulate his breathing.

_I have to stay calm. _He told himself._ If she was right… if Kakashi was right… then… _He pursed his lips. _This mark could mean the death of me. _

"I can't let that happen…" he breathed, lowering his head back down to rest his chin against his chest as he clenched his fists. "I can't!"

"Hey, Sasuke?"

At the voice, he raised his head and looked over to see Naruto gazing at him worriedly.

"You okay? You're not watching the matches."

Sasuke found that he couldn't answer with a lie without revealing the truth, so he simply pursed his lips and averted his eyes, staying silent. Naruto blinked at him for a moment before his eyes narrowed in understanding. Slowly, he took a few steps closer, giving Sasuke plenty of time to keep the distance. He didn't.

"I'm sorry about what that jerk did to Haku," the blonde breathed. Sasuke let out a disbelieving scoff at the words, shaking his head as he looked away even as Naruto continued. "But I know he's going to be okay."

_Yeah, sure you are. You wouldn't be saying that if you knew who he really was._

Unfortunately, Naruto misinterpreted this, and scowled at him.

"Well, _fine_!" He snapped, turning away and storming off. "I hope he dies then! Sheesh!"

Strangely enough, in the mood Sasuke was in, this statement made him happier than the other one had.

_At least it's closer to the truth._

"Second to last match! Inaré KriKo versus Kankuro!"

Sasuke felt his heart drop into his belly, and simultaneously Inaré and he looked at each other, silent words passing between them.

_No. Another one of that team. No, what if he hurts you like he hurt HakuwhatifyouDIE-?!_

Silently, he walked up to her, and Sakura moved away without a word as she recognized the look that passed between them. It wasn't something she could identify or put a name on (being so young), but she understood the sudden, quiet sadness that had taken over them both. As Kankuro jumped into the ring, Sasuke and Inaré's fingers interlaced and the boy lifted them up to his face, kissing Inaré's knuckles as they stood close together, their breaths intermingling.

"You're the only thing I'm sure of," he breathed to her – almost like a song – as she smiled at him, the fear in his heart making it hard to speak, "and it makes it all so _hard_. All the other things are broken…" he took a shaky breath, "…out of focus…"

"_You can't die. You can't get hurt. I'll save you."_

She beamed at him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as he spoke to her.

"All I know is that I love you, here right now," she murmured to him, kissing his own knuckles as these words told them endlessly more than what the words actually meant. Like the words belonged to some memory they both held close to their hearts.

"_I'll be fine. I promise."_

For a moment, they stood there together, foreheads pressed against each other and hands clasped between them as if in prayer.

"Hey! Hurry your ass up!"

They opened their eyes, and Sasuke reluctantly released Inaré's hand, his own dropping to his side. Without another word to each other, Inaré turned and jumped down to the arena, Kaoru following her after bidding farewell to Dagina. The massive feline sat next to Sasuke near the railing, looking down as Sasuke did with a heavy heart. The boy pursed his lips.

"You can do it," he breathed as Sakura cheered a few feet away from him. Grinning, Inaré lifted a hand and waved at her from where she stood across from Kankuro. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and Zabuza set a hand on his shoulder. "You have to."

With that, the match began.

**End Chapter Twenty – Eliminations**

**If you just happen to see anything that could be considered a song lyric in here, I don't own it. I'm sure if there were any song lyrics in here, I would love to own them, but I can't, because they're not mine.**

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**Much love,**

**DDB**


	40. Flashback Twenty: Sick

**YES. I KNOW. INSANELY SHORT.**

**I wanna get to the good stuff. Can you blame me?**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty – Sick**

"_Wow, this thing is pretty fucking disgusting," Tyra commented as they dodged the attack, leaping away. Zabuza shrugged._

"_Insects usually are," he replied. "We need to get rid of this thing and get out of here."_

"_Yeah," Tyra breathed, her eyes slightly glazed over as she stared at her feet. "Sure we do. But we need to do it without dealing with this thing. The kids are in trouble." Gaze clearing, she looked up. "We have to go. We have to ditch this giant bug and we have to leave now!"_

"_But I bet it makes a really __**awesome **__sound when you cut it in two!" Zabuza whined, brandishing his sword with a single hand. Tyra scowled at him._

"_Stop being a little brat," she snapped. "We have to find a way out!"_

"_Haku and Sasuke can handle themselves," Zabuza commented without worry. "They'll be able to handle that idiot Patzu if he did fall with them."_

"_They're still __**kids**__, you moron," Tyra snarled as the bug raised itself up, crying out. "You are still their guardian! We have to find them!"_

"_I never said I wouldn't!" Zabuza exclaimed defensively, waving his sword around like it was a fork. "I'm just saying we should kill this thing first!"_

"_Fuck this thing!" Tyra snapped as she turned. Zabuza rolled his eyes._

"_You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you-?"_

"_Up there!" Raising a hand, she pointed at a small, shadowy indentation in the rock wall behind them that was barely visible in the glowstick's light. "That's a tunnel, I'm sure of it! Let's go!"_

"_You just insist on ruining my fun, don't you?" Zabuza asked her as he jumped, dodging the larva's lunge and sending it skidding across the floor into the far wall. Leaping up, Tyra caught the ledge of the tunnel and dug her nails in, lifting her legs to brace them against the wall. _

"_If you want, you can stay here and I'll go on ahead, find the boys and keep them for myself," she responded, pulling herself up as she continued to speak. "And I'll make them fuck each other. After I fuck them. __**And **__make them fuck other random little girls. **And **other random men. __**And**__ make a shitload of money doing it. __**And**__ I'll send you copies of all the movies that I make at no extra cost to you so you can sit there and masturbate covered in bug guts. I'm sure it'll make __**great**__ lube."_

_Turning, sitting in the mouth of the tunnel with one leg tangling, she looked down at him with a blank, maybe mildly expectant look on her face. Zabuza blinked at her, thought about it, and scowled._

"_You're fucking sick," he stated simply before sheathing his sword and leaping up after her. Tyra caught him by the wrist, and he dangled there for a moment before she shifted appropriately to pull him up with her._

"_We should high-tail it," Tyra commented as he settled next to her. "That saliva looks corrosive."_

_As if on cue, there was a nasty hacking sound from behind them, and something disgustingly thick smacked against the wall beside them. Immediately upon contact, the sound of hissing steam filled the air. Tyra and Zabuza exchanged glances._

"_Quickly," she stated, turning inwards. "While there's still a fucking tunnel."_

"_Lead the way," he replied, more than happy to follow the sexy (__**Dammit!**__) woman away from the revoltingly massive insect. The entire thing reminded him of a boil full of puss. Then, after a moment. "Are the boys okay?"_

_There was a pause in which Zabuza's heart started to drop-_

"_I think so," she answered. "It's kinda blurry. Something's happening and it's not pretty."_

"_And this tunnel is going to take us to them?" _

_Tyra shrugged._

"_That's my instinct," she responded. "And usually my instinct runs pretty true. If it's one thing I listen to, it's my gut. This'll take us to them."_

"_Your gut, huh?" Zabuza asked, mostly to himself. He blinked and thought for a moment before going out on a very high limb. "What does your gut say about fucking a…" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, even though she couldn't see it. "...__**very**__ handsome young rogue with a very large sword?"_

_Tyra actually paused in her crawling for a moment to turn her head slightly- enough that Zabuza could see her eyes, but not enough for her to actually look at him._

"_My gut says…" she stated after a long moment of thought. "He's hardly young, and it's not that big."_

_Zabuza gave her rear a very heated scowl as she continued forward. _

"_Sick bitch," he spat._

**End Flashback Twenty – Sick**

**OOOOOOOUCH. BUUUUUUURN. **

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**Don't worry; the juicy stuff is up next. **

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	41. Blade of the Puppeteer

**This one is super-long to make up for the mildly-short-depressing flashback.**

**Dude. I SO hope you enjoy. I know I did. x3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Blade of the Puppeteer**

The match began, and for the most part it was actually rather anticlimactic. For a few moments they simply stood there, facing each other with Kankuro holding up a strange object swallowed in cloth beside him and Kaoru snarling at Inaré's feet.

"What your teammate tried to do to mine was unnecessary," Inaré stated simply, her eyes flashing even though her voice remained calm – a trait she had obviously picked up from Sasuke. The clenched fists at her side gave her away. "The match had been called, and still he pressed forward. That isn't the way of an honorable ninja."

Kankuro, unfazed, rolled his eyes.

"I'm too young to worry myself with something like 'honor'," he replied simply, shifting the thing next to him. The movement sent Kaoru closer to the ground, her limps winding up like a spring ready to fire. "That stuff is for stupid old men. My teammate can do whatever the fuck he wants. But if you have a beef with me…" he grinned. "Why don't you just come over here and make it clear?"

Inaré's eyes narrowed, and she brought her hands together, her fingers almost dancing as she performed signs.

"You're ugly," she stated as she did so. "You stink." The air around her began to hum. "And your makeup sucks." She finished the chain, and her Chakra erupted around her like a pure white cloud of smoke, lingering in the air for a moment before it withdrew, sinking into the pores of her skin as she suddenly seemed to become one with the air, speeding towards Kankuro to spin a powerful, angry roundhouse kick directly towards his face. "THAT'S MY BEEF WITH YOU, YOU OVERGROWN TROLL!"

Kankuro ducked, the wind whistling through his ears as the force of her kick made him almost fall over, jumping backwards with his cargo. Landing solidly on both feet, Inaré followed. Inaré's physical attacks (mostly lower body with furious kicks and uppercuts) were fierce and fast, fueled by her anger and sending Kankuro jumping and sprinting across the room just to avoid her – to let one of those hits land would put him out of commission for the rest of the exams, and he knew that. Kaoru simply paced back and forth, staying well out of her master's way and waiting for her cue.

_Good, Inaré. _Sasuke thought as he watched the match, not taking his eyes away for a second. _Keep him in a corner. Keep him pinned. Soon he's going to get desperate for a counter attack, and when he does, he's going to make himself wide open. _

"Okay, ENOUGH!"

As if on command, Kankuro pushed Inaré away, and swung outwards with a kunai.

She jumped, landing on his outstretched arm with one foot and crouching, stabilizing herself with one arm clamped around his wrist. They locked gazes, and Kankuro's eyes widened. With Inaré's other leg (the leg closer to him) she swung it mightily, and her shin collided with a nasty crack against the side of his face.

It sent him flying, he and his parcel sailing away to tumble across the arena floor.

Inaré pushed herself up into a stand where she had flipped off the other ninja's arm and landed nicely on the ground, her hair having come undone in the tussle. Kaoru moving to be beside her, she took her hair tie and calmly took her hair back up into the high ponytail that it usually was in, tightening it silently before she flipped her hair back over her shoulder.

"That fucking hurt, you bitch."

The Kankuro that she had hit disappeared, leaving only the wrapped object behind on the floor. Her eyes widened as she realized a presence had appeared behind her, and she dodged the blade he tried to sink into her back to leap away, flipping across the arena floor with a single hand to skid to a stop near the mysterious object.

With that, she put as much distance in between her and Kankuro as she could. Kaoru, silently, backed up to the opposite side of the room, still behind her enemy.

But even though the Kankuro she had kicked had vanished, the new Kankuro was still bleeding, and she smirked as she rubbed the blood she had swiped from his bleeding lips in between her fingers.

Kankuro scowled at her from where he stood, his jaw heavily bruised and blood dripping from his lips. Angrily, he spit out a few of his teeth beside him. Inaré watched this with perverse, snide pleasure from where she stood.

_Ha. Serves you right. _

"You're gonna pay for that," he swore, turning back to look at her. She smirked, chuckled.

"Sure thing, fancy-pants," she replied easily, bringing her bloodied fingers to her mouth. Looking over them to Kankuro, she gave him a wicked half smile before she licked the blood off her fingers. "We'll just see how good you do after I rip all your limbs off."

Kankuro scowled at her, and then started to make hand signs himself. Inaré's eyes brightened.

_Ah, finally!_

The thing beside her shifted, and a rattling sound met her ears as the thing actually moved on its own, wooden hands with spikes in the palms shooting towards her. Drawn to the motion, her eyes moved and the threat registered just in time for her to step back, the sharpened points narrowly missing her (one of them managed a thin, light slice across her taut belly) as it zoomed sideways.

_What the-?!_

As it passed, she grabbed the material that still covered it, yanking it off as it sailed away.

"Meet Crow," Kankuro stated simply as Inaré blinked in disbelief, the life-size puppet made of wood and metal rattling and clacking as it pulled itself up, the head with gapping eyes rolling in the socket. Sasuke pulled a disgusted face at the unsettling image, but Inaré was completely intrigued. "He's going to be the one ending your life today."

"So you're a puppet master," she breathed simply as Crow gathered itself back up, readying for the next attack. The look of awe slowly broke into a smile as she dropped the cloth. "Oh. So cool."

Taking her hands together, she began to make signs again, and as Crow leapt for her again, spikes coming out of its body to start spinning wildly, she finished the new Jutsu and held her palm up to face the puppet.

A blast of Chakra went directly through Crow, not harming it in the slightest but causing just enough disturbances to throw it off-course and tumble off-balance, making Kankuro grunt with the strain to straighten it up and send it back her way.

But that time was enough. When Inaré raised her hand to deflect Crow and throw it to the side to skid wooden face-first along the ground, the change had already taken place.

Her face had acquired similar markings to Kankuro's, and the same strange mechanical designs that were etched into Crow's body had appeared upon her skin. Smiling, she even moved differently, each joint and limb moving separately but together, as one single unit of individual moving parts.

Like a puppet.

Naruto blinked in the utmost confusion, staring at the match in awe.

"What did she just do?" He asked as Kankuro sent Crow her way again and she dodged, joints shivering, as she threw a hand upwards to whack it against the side of Crow's head, snapping it sideways and making it careen that direction. "She's not fighting like she was before. It's like there are two of those things on the field now!" His anger forgotten with this new mystery, the blonde made his way over to Sasuke and stood next to him. "What's with her? What's she doing?"

Sasuke, a little relieved with the idea that Inaré seemed to have this situation under control for the moment, turned to him.

"She's a Copy-Cat nin," he replied simply, as if this explained everything. Naruto's face screwed up into a look of confusion.

"So she's like Kakashi?" He blinked in awe. "Does that mean she has the Sharingan too?"

Sasuke actually managed to laugh at that.

"No, that doesn't mean she has the Sharingan," he responded. "While your sensei is able to copy techniques solely because of his left eye, Inaré's entire clan is made to copy other people's styles. Her bloodline is built to imitate other bloodlines. While Kakashi permanently retains all he learns, she only has access to the skill as long as she's with the fighter she's mimicking. Her last name, KriKo, literally means 'copy-cat'."

Naruto blinked in awe as Inaré's movements matched Crow's, and Kankuro was almost howling in frustration with the ease that Inaré matched his puppet's moves, almost a mirror image of the machine she now faced.

"Wow, that's so cool!" He exclaimed. "So she could copy anyone's bloodline?!"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, not permanently of course," he replied. "But for a certain amount of time, sure. Of course, it won't be as potent or as intense as the original, but she uses her own Chakra to make up the difference."

"That's actually… really kind of sad," Sakura replied, walking over to stand next to Naruto as she looked at Sasuke. "So Inaré doesn't have any real skills of her own? She just borrows from other people?"

Sasuke blinked at her for a moment before shrugging.

"That's just the way her clan is," he stated. "Don't worry; I'm sure that's an issue they've struggled with since their bloodline first surfaced. You shouldn't feel sorry for her though." He looked down at the arena, where Inaré was almost cackling with glee at Kankuro's exasperation. "She takes quite a bit of perverse pleasure in turning people's own techniques against them. Especially if she thinks they deserve to suffer."

_And by the look in her eyes, she thinks it so. _He thought fondly as he watched her, a soft smile on his face. _Yep, put her training in a room alone, and she's pretty worthless. But… _the smile widened as memories of the days when they had first begun to get into rhythm with each other bubbled up to the surface. _Stick her with someone else – just one other person – and she becomes an angry force to be reckoned with. _He seemed to nod to himself. _She, if anyone in the world, deserves the Sharingan. _

"Go, Inaré," he urged her quietly. "_Go_."

_Crush him._

All of the sudden, as Inaré thought she was about to deliver the finishing blow to Kankuro as she appeared behind him and – joints rattling – sent a kunai straight towards his back, she froze.

Quite literally. She could feel all of the parts inside her that had become quite moveable slow and fall silent, and she immediately stilled, kunai barely scratching the clothing covering Kankuro's skin. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he pushed himself up on top of the railings, his feet tangling a few inches from the ground.

"INARÉ!"

Kankuro chuckled as best he could, so out of breath was he, as he turned to face the frozen fighter.

"It's about time that thing kicked in," he commented as he did, eying the small scratch on Inaré's belly. "What, you didn't think I'd go against someone as infamous as you without a little edge, didja?" He smirked, and Inaré could only stare at him in shock as he stood less than a foot away from her, the kunai she held still outstretched and still dangerously sharp, but no longer any threat. "I see the paralytic finally started to affect you. The timing couldn't be better." He grinned at her, and her body began to quiver a little as she struggled against the poison.

"_NO!" _She wanted to cry, unable to move. _"YOU FUCKHEAD!"_

"It won't last for very long though," Kankuro continued as he drew Crow nearer to him, taking a wooden pike from the machine's armory of weapons (one with an angry metal spike on the heavier end) and twirling it in his hand. "Especially because so little was administered. So I suppose I should make it count." Grinning, he lifted the mace up. "Time for some payback."

With the blunt side of the weapon, he smashed Inaré across the face, sending her tumbling sideways.

With his other arm though, he caught her, and Crow fell lifelessly to the ground as the Chakra Threads severed. Laughing, he lifted her back up and tilted her back into a stand. Then he did it again to the other side of her face, pulling her straight again. Like a punching bag.

"NO!" Sasuke shouted, enraged and moving as if to leap into the fray. "STOP! THAT'S NOT-!"

Kaoru beat him to it. The great wolf leaped out from where she had been sulking near the edge of the battle and sank her teeth into the hand that held the weapon, making Kankuro cry out in pain as the sheer momentum sent him crashing down with the animal.

"You fucking mongrel!"

"YEAH!" Kiba cried along with Akamaru, recovered for the most part from his match with Naruto, in glee as Dagina roared in appreciation for her companion. "IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!"

Kaoru hit the ground on all four paws, releasing Kankuro's now-useless hand and skidding around in a circle to face the ninja, bloodied teeth bare and aching for flesh. Kankuro, from where he had collapsed, groaned and picked himself up.

"You filthy animal," he snarled at the creature, switching the weapon to his other hand. "I had forgotten about you."

Kaoru's growl assured him that he wouldn't forget again and she leaped for him, faking an attack from directly in front to drop short of contact just as Kankuro swung his weapon, hopping to the left and lashing forward to sink her teeth into his weakened right shoulder, as out of range as she could get from his weapon.

"That wolf is so smart!" Sakura breathed in awe as Kankuro let out a yell, trying his best to hit Kaoru with the pike but only grazing her fur. "She knew exactly where to go to avoid his weapon!"

_That's not all. _Sasuke thought, some relief in his eyes as he kept his gaze on Inaré. _Come on, Inaré. He said it didn't last long. Fight it off!_

Switching grips so that he held the weapon by the tail end instead of the center, Kankuro sent the spike of the pike at Kaoru again, and she released his shoulder just in time to duck beneath the blow and move behind him, jumping onto his back as she tried to gain purchase with her fangs on the back of his neck and hopefully end the match in Inaré's favor.

However much in pain he was, Kankuro's reflexes were fast, and he took the animal by the paws and put his entire body into throwing her off and sending her sailing away to the far side of the arena, a high-pitched whimper marking her hitting the floor on her flank and sliding away.

Gasping and bleeding, Kankuro spit in Kaoru's direction and swallowed heavily.

"Damn mutt," he muttered before fingering the pike with intent. "Now…" he turned to Inaré. "To finish the job." He sent the pike forward-

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"NO!"

**End Chapter Twenty-One: Blade of the Puppeteer**

**OMG! *le gasp***

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**Much love,**

**DDB**


	42. Flashback Twenty-One: Rise

**Yes. This one is short too. Really, I should've roped this together with the previous flashback, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead at the time. **

**Enjoy. :D**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-One – Rise**

_He fought bravely. Haku knew it and all of those mother-fuckers knew it too. He counted three that fell screaming as blood gushed from wounds in their throats, and he couldn't hear the ones fighting Haku but knew that they were falling silently. More seemed to crawl out of the darkness (two for every one they killed) and engulf them, blindsiding Sasuke and knocking him to the ground as pain erupted in his left palm. _

_A strangled grunt made his eyes snap open as Haku fell as well, and Sasuke's eyes widened. _

_Raising his eyes, he saw that a kunai had pierced his hand, pinning it solidly to the wall as the men beset Haku and temporarily forgot about him. _

_But he knew. He knew he was next. _

_**Haku!**_

_Before he could scream out his partner's name, another voice cut him off. _

"_Do you wish to save him?"_

_Turning his head, Sasuke gazed with wide eyes at the little girl in the pink dress who stood a few feet from him, hands behind her back. Her big black eyes were empty, all-consuming in their nothingness as she gazed at him. _

"_There is something great and horrifying within you, Sasuke…" she breathed as she looked at him, and he could only wonder how she knew his name. Everything seemed to die out around them- he knew those bastards were attacking Haku and he knew his hand was run through with one of their __**fucking blades**__ – but he couldn't feel any of it. It all dulled down around him, turning into meaningless background noise. Her words echoed like thunder in his ears. "Like a star that brings life to all things actually ready to explode, destroying all that worship it and beyond. A supernova on earth. That is what you are."_

_Whatever strange power this little creature wielded, he was trapped within it. _

_**What are you?**_

"_I know you are afraid of it," the little girl continued, completely ignoring the violence happening beside them. It was if they had ceased to exist to the men as well. "I know how the past has changed you, maybe even if you don't. But you must accept yourself, just this once, if you are to save your friend." _

_**Haku. **__Sasuke remembered, eyes widening as Haku's voice seemed to pierce the darkness around him. __**Oh my God I have to save him-**_

"_It is only something to be ashamed of if you can't control it," she stated firmly, catching his attention again. "But in order to save the people you love, sometimes, you must be shameful. In order to save him, you must become one with yourself – if only this one time. You must overcome your fear. You must rise above it. Rise, Sasuke Terranova." Reaching out, she offered him her hand – such a tiny, pale thing it was. It was almost a silent command, and Sasuke felt something unspoken and powerful stir within him as he gazed into those eyes. _

_**Rise, Sasuke.**_

"_Rise."_

_Mesmerized, Haku's cries ringing in his ears; he reached out and took her tiny hand in his own. _

**End Flashback Twenty-One – Rise**

**Rise, chicken. Arise chicken. **

**Who knows where thaaaaaat is from? *pedoface***

**I look forward to hearing from you!**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	43. Mother of All Things

**And here is the conclusion of our favorite lady versus the dangerous puppeteer...**

**Length! Omg I found length again!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Mother of All Things**

A disgustingly sick sound filled the air as the pike burst through the opposite side of Inaré's torso, a rather large kunai sinking itself into Kankuro's flesh and twisting itself up into his ribcage.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

There they stood in a death lock, Inaré grinning at Kankuro as blood dribbled down her chin and he stared at her in shock, her kunai buried up to her fingers into his body.

"Your poison sucks," she hissed at him, the grin painful and yet relentlessly satisfying as she smiled at him, the agony twisting the expression at the edges. Kankuro's eyes narrowed at her, and he winced as the kunai turned angrily within him. The way his breathing was labored, but not entirely painful, showed him that she had been unsuccessful in the attempt to pierce his lung.

"Yeah?" He panted venomously, sneering at her. "You _missed_."

Inaré's grin transformed into a scowl, and as one they pushed each other away, both of them stumbling backwards as they looked down to survey their wounds.

They had both taken their respective weapons with them, and Kankuro's pike was bloody while Inaré's blade dripped profusely. Sasuke felt himself starting to cry, raising his hands to cover his face and peering down through cracks in between his fingers.

"Inaré! _OH MY GOD, INARÉ-!_"

"SHUT UP, SASUKE!" She roared at him, making his jaw snap shut as she lifted her eyes to glare heatedly at him. Turning her gaze back onto her opponent, she lifted a hand to set it over the gaping hole in her abdomen. No amount of pressure was going to stem _that _blood flow. "I GOT THIS!" She took a few breaths as deep as she could, and swallowed, licking her lips. "I got this."

Sasuke, his nails clawing at the railing in nervousness, switched his weight from foot to foot as he watched and felt nausea tearing at his insides.

"Fuck you, you bitch," Kankuro swore. "Like hell you do! We're both going to die at this rate, you crazy girl!"

"I don't mind," Inaré replied with a small smirk. "As long as I make sure to make you suffer as much as I do, I don't mind in the slightest. But, you know, if you can't handle it…" Relaxing for a moment, she shrugged. "Just say you concede. I promise not to rub it in your face _too_ much."

Kankuro scoffed, but one couldn't help but notice the little smirk that appeared on his lips.

"Che," he stated simply, standing there and rolling his weapon in between his remaining fingers. Kaoru had quite almost ripped his right hand off, and with that body part out of commission there was no way he could completely renew the connection with his puppet. "You sure are a twisted little cunt."

"If that turns you on, you sick little _fuck_, I'm taken," she responded curtly with a twisted smirk. As Kankuro pulled a face, she began to make hand signs of her own.

"Language people, jeez," Kakashi commented, rolling his eyes and covering one ear with a grim expression on his face.

_I'm going to pass out soon if I don't finish this. _Inaré thought. _The best thing to do is keep the flow going as long as possible. As long as my Chakra is flowing, I'll stay conscious. _

"Kaoru," she breathed softly, making the wolf – which had picked herself up and limped over to her master – look up at her. "I'm going to need your help with this."

Her smile was grim as she thought about Haku and what Gaara had did to him.

_It looks like you'll have to exact vengeance yourself, Sasuke._ She nodded sadly to herself. _For both of us. But I'll be damned if I don't do my best to kill this asshole. _

She had never been the type to half-ass anything.

Concentrating – it had been a while – she finalized the string of symbols and closed her eyes. Kaoru, standing in front of her between her and Kankuro, raised her muzzle up to the sky and howled a single, relentless note.

That very sound seemed to shake the room, and a ring of Chakra carved itself around Kaoru, drowning the animal in a column of powerful white light. Sasuke's eyes widened.

_No. That's-! _

"Inaré!" He cried. "Inaré, DON'T-!"

"TRANSFORM!" Inaré commanded, raising her hand to the light as the wind it created made everybody hold onto their hats. "I SUMMON THEE! AMATERASU, GODDESS OF THE SUN AND MOTHER OF ALL THINGS!"

The next howl they heard was regal and strong, and everybody felt their hearts lift at the sound as a body burst through the light, something green and blue piercing through the column and slicing it in two.

A massive creature appeared in midair as the light vanished in a spiral of Chakra, and an enormous white wolf (three times the size Kaoru originally was) with a gigantic sword slung across her back landed solidly beside Inaré, crouched down and entire body geared to kill.

Red markings, like flickers of fire, danced across her fur as she moved and breathed, the great sword she wielded moving and shifting on its own as if made of wind and water. Green at the hilt and slowly fading to a deep sea blue at the blade, there seemed to be no real substance to it, the entire thing seeming to change and alter within its own magic.

Sasuke smiled. Even though his teammate's decision was positively dangerous, the image of the mighty Amaterasu standing beside her always brought him joy. They were such a beautiful team. And just as deadly as lovely.

_Inaré. You better kill him._

Kankuro's jaw dropped.

"What the fuck-?!"

Kiba whistled loudly in appreciation as Akamaru barked in excitement.

Smirking, Inaré reached to her own back and finally unsheathed her own blade, pointing it at Kankuro. The deadly weapon flashed in the light.

"Time for some payback, don't cha think?" She asked snootily as she smirked at him.

Then, as one, she and the newly-transformed Amaterasu leaped for him.

"What the hell?!" Naruto asked in disbelief as Kankuro barely managed to dodge the blades, cursing the entire time. His wound was not nearly as severe as Inaré's, and the poison still in her system (to a degree) made her moves less sharp than they were before, the mimicking Jutsu now no longer active with Crow out of the fight. The two (master and animal) seemed to become one; two sides of the same coin, and their movements mirrored each other perfectly as they jumped and flipped and attacked. Kankuro had to frantically pull on the Chakra in his puppet to reconnect the strings as best he could and use the multitude of weapons the machine had installed as his last-ditch defense mechanism. "The wolf is a god?!"

"Haha, no Naruto, not really," Sasuke reassured him with a laugh. Though he smiled, he was still terribly uneasy. Inaré was by far the most headstrong out of the group (and not surprising, with the most to prove) but it wasn't like her to pull Kaoru so deeply into the battle. Silently, he wondered what she was thinking. Was summoning Kaoru's true form really necessary for such an amateur match? After they had both dealt such a blow to each other? She knew the potential repercussions, and she just didn't seem to care. _She always takes things like this way too seriously. Ironic, really._ "Amaterasu is just the name of the form that Kaoru takes when she transforms using this Jutsu. It's based off a fairytale."

Naruto blinked in confusion at him.

"Fairytale? What fairytale?"

Sasuke smiled at him.

"Okay, long story short," he began.

"_A long time ago there was a wicked eight-headed beast that brought darkness to the land and instilled fear in the people. To fight this evil emerged a pure white wolf named Amaterasu that possessed all the powers of the gods. For days and nights they battled, until finally the wolf chopped off all the heads but one, and used her mighty sword to seal the beast's spirit away in a mountain at the edge of the world. There the spirit remained for a hundred years. The white wolf, so exhausted from her battle, fell into a great slumber and turned to stone with her powers scattering across the earth. In time, the truth turned into legend, and a foolish man went to the mountain and pulled the sword from the earth, unknowingly releasing the beast once more._

"_A tree spirit that had watched over the land watched her planet dissolve into turmoil. Not knowing what to do, she turned to the sleeping god._

"_Awakened, Amaterasu had lost all her powers but one: to summon the sun. Thus, in order to gain the strength needed to defeat the beast again, she traveled across the world to find the powers that she had lost…"_

"It's actually quite a sad story," Sasuke mused as Naruto gazed at him intently, enraptured. Amaterasu swung her sword mightily from where it was strapped to her back, using the massive strength in her shoulders to swing the blade in circles over her head just as Inaré combined her horizontal strike with a downwards swing of her own. The sharp sound of whistling wind and crashing waves accompanied each attack of the wolf's blade. Kankuro, almost squealing, barely managed to dodge out of the way with his puppet being used as a shield, striking in the holes of the attackers' formation as Amaterasu's blade managed to slice him across the ribs. Inaré was seriously weakening, and one could see it in the way her strikes became less powerful, became easier to dodge. Ultimately it would fall upon Amaterasu to deal the final blow, and Inaré slowed so much _(so much blood so much blood)_ that Kankuro actually began fighting back with Crow and the wolf had to begin consciously protecting her master, focusing more on defending her than attacking her enemy. "You see, the fairy tale ends with Amaterasu destroying the beast permanently the second time and saving the land, but in the actual legend she only has the power to subdue it long enough to seal it away. Tired, she sleeps. As she sleeps, some idiot wakes up the beast again and the cycle begins anew. Over and over, she is doomed to an eternity of fighting an enemy she can't defeat and saving a land that's too retarded to learn from history."

"Wow," Sakura breathed before scowling. "Talk about being caught between a rock in a hard place."

"But I don't get it!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "Why? Why does she do that? She doesn't owe those people anything! Why doesn't she go out and make her own destiny?"

Sasuke smiled grimly at him.

"Because if she didn't follow the destiny she had been given, there would be no world _period_," he explained simply as the battle continued below, swords spinning and slicing the air wildly in fantastic displays of aerobatics and strength. Amaterasu pushed Inaré out of the way just in time to avoid one of Crow's blades. "No one else had the strength to rise up and protect the people. Sacrificing her freedom over and over again allows the people of her world to follow their own paths. She _could _allow the world to die, and she _could _just go back up to the heavenly plane to be with her fellow gods. But she never does."

"But _why_ doesn't she?!" He demanded. "I don't get it, I don't get it! Why does she do that for them?!"

"The world is her child, Naruto!" Sakura snapped irritably, just enraptured by the story as the blonde was. "The people in it are her children! To let the world dissolve into darkness would mean failing them all! They would all suffer and die!"

"She's right, Naruto," Sasuke breathed softly, eyes on the great white wolf below. "Amaterasu was the mother of all things. She loved her world, and she loved her people. She loved them so much she was willing to sacrifice herself for all eternity just to protect them and keep them safe, no matter how stupid they were." He raised his eyes to look at the blonde beside him. "That's what true love is."

_True, unconditional love._

An angry growl and a sharp cry of surprise from below brought their attentions back down to the arena.

Kankuro, dropping the pike and raising his last remaining hand, had somehow managed to catch Inaré by the hair and twist her around, holding a kunai to her throat while using the arm attached to the bad hand to press her to him. Using her like a shield, he presented her to her wolf companion, Crow now lifeless again by his feet.

"Back off!" He warned the creature, making Amaterasu pause and blink at him. "Forfeit or I'll slit your throat!" Kankuro threatened Inaré, holding her tightly as he gasped.

"Fuck you!" She snapped raggedly, trying to get her throat as far away from the blade as she could. "You kill me there's nothing holding Ammy back! She'll rip you apart!"

"Well well, this is a sorry sight." The Genin on the balcony lifted their eyes to see Sai finally walking over as the battle beneath drew to a stalemate, both parties eying each other warily and catching their breaths as Inaré's animal wondered what to do as she gazed at her master. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Sai neared, and he glanced back and forth between the battle and the newcomer. "Your teammate's probably going to die, Sasuke Terranova. She's been run through and your other partner has been hospitalized. Not exactly holding a candle to the reputation you brought with you."

Anger rippled beneath Sasuke's breast plate as he turned his entire attention to Sai, a hand still on the railing and the other dropping to his side. His shoulders tensed, his entire body curling up like a spring.

"Sai, don't be such a jerk!" Sakura exclaimed. "She's doing her best!"

"Shut up, Sakura," her teammate replied coldly without even looking at her, making her jaw clip shut. "He and his teammates are our enemies. I can't believe you're still wasting your time with them. They're obviously not worth it."

"Shut the fuck up," Sasuke hissed dangerously, taking his hand from the railing as his eyes flashed. Fists clenched, he strode up to Sai. "_Congratulations_," he snarled as he did, Zabuza and Kakashi both keeping a wary eye on him. "You now have my full attention."

A whistle of wind and crash of the waves – Amaterasu swinging her sword – had his gaze shifting away (and immediately proving himself completely wrong) from the boy to look down at the arena.

His eyes widened, and he threw himself at the railing as he stared down.

"INARÉ! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Using the hole that Kankuro already made, Amaterasu had sent the very point of her sword forward through Inaré, just enough to pierce Kankuro as her master managed to wrestle the blade out of his hand.

The sword connecting the two, Kankuro's eyes widened.

"You _bitch_," he bit out, blood dribbling from his lips.

Unlike Inaré's kunai, her wolf's sword hadn't missed. The girl grinned.

"Fuck you," she replied simply in grim satisfaction. Releasing her, Kankuro stumbled away from the blade and Amaterasu withdrew her weapon, swinging her sword to rest across her back again as she raised her muzzle to the sky to mournfully howl – a single, pain-ridden note.

As Kankuro backed away, Inaré dropped to the floor, and – just like that, in a puff of white smoke – Kaoru was back to normal again as she dashed over to her master, a sure-fire hint that Inaré was unconscious, if not dead.

The match was over now, Sasuke could feel it. He could feel it as he completely ignored Sai and leaped down and ran to Inaré, kneeling beside her to gather her up in his arms.

"Inaré…" he breathed insistently as he lifted her up into his lap, touching her face and pressing his fingers against her neck for a pulse. "Inaré baby, come on, open your eyes…"

It took a moment for her to response, raggedly coughing up blood as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hey Sasuke…" she murmured weakly before flapping an exhausted hand at him. "I know, I know, I went too far. I just…" she winced, closing her eyes before curling up against him. "I wanted… to get back at the redhead for what he did to Haku. But I knew I wouldn't be a match, so I settled for killing his partner." She smiled grimly. "But I suppose I didn't succeed at that either."

Sasuke smiled at her warmly.

"You did great honey," he cooed, brushing the blood-stained hair from her face as he tried his best to ignore the redness and swelling and what would obviously become awful bruises. "You definitely would've done it if not for that fucking poison. He's a big fat cheater is all."

She chuckled hollowly, smiling at him as her eyes grew foggy.

"I think…" she breathed as blood dripped down her chin. Beaming serenely, she turned her head tiredly into his chest. "I think I need to go see the medics now."

"Ah, is she awake after all?"

Sasuke's head snapped up as he looked over at Kankuro, who was standing up, still grinning at him with the pike back in his good hand.

"Come now," the other genin stated with the twisted grin, the pain and adrenaline obviously having shaken something loose inside his brain. "I thought she wanted to kill me? But I won, right? So I'm pretty sure that means I get to kill _her_."

Slowly, he began to stalk over, weapon in hand. Kaoru, snarling, leaped around Sasuke and his teammate and dashed to the wounded fighter, jumping up into the air and seeking to bite down on his throat. Smoothly, the pain and anger making him wholly more dangerous, Kankuro wordlessly jabbed the spike directly into her belly and flung her to the side using the attack. Yelping, the animal hit the floor and skid, a trail of blood following her passage.

"Kaoru!" Sasuke yelled as Dagina snarled, leaping down to the arena to stand next to Sasuke with her teeth bared and claws extended. She recognized the threat a split-second before he did, and he turned his head back to Kankuro, who was still advancing. His eyes narrowed, and he settled Inaré back on the ground again as his eyes flashed and his lips pulled back into a snarl. Inaré's eyes widened, and she grabbed Sasuke's shirt weakly in her bloodstained hand.

_You'll pay. You'll pay for what you did to her-_

"N-no, Sasuke…" she stammered as Sasuke silently rose, ignoring her as his only desire out of life turned into ripping Kankuro's heart from his body. "No, Sasuke, you promised… you promised you wouldn't-!" But her cries went unheard as he pulled himself into a stand, her hand slipping from its grip. "Sasuke-!"

_You think I'm going to just stand back and let this happen you massive sack of shit-_

"If you're really in that of a hurry to die, by all means," Sasuke sneered, baring his teeth just like his animal. "I'll rip you in _half._"

Before Kankuro could obey, before Sasuke could leap forward and finish the job, before one of the many teachers surveying the match could get some sense into their heads to bring a stop to all the madness – a flash of orange darted in front of Sasuke, and before the raven knew it Naruto had punched Kankuro clear in the mouth, sending him flying backwards to hit the floor in a dead faint.

The intensity that had been gathering around Sasuke faded, and he blinked in confusion, looking at Naruto as the blonde stood and turned to face him, giving him a proud thumbs-up. Blinking, Sasuke took a moment to think about what just happened and then smiled gratefully at the other ninja. Naruto beamed as Sasuke's expression, walking over to him.

"You shouldn't have to fight every battle by yourself," he told Sasuke comfortingly as he neared. "That's why we're here!"

Sasuke grinned at him, and Kakashi watched this with pride from where he stood in the balconies.

_Good job, Naruto. _He thought as Sakura kneeled beside Inaré, surveying the damage as medic ninjas rushed in. _You just saved us from what could've been quite a bit of trouble._ At the far side of the arena, Kiba kneeled next to Kaoru and stroked her flank.

"You were great," he told the creature comfortingly as he gently picked her up in his arms and walked over to the group at the center of the arena, blood splatters everywhere. Gratefully, Sasuke took the creature in his arms as Dagina looked on worriedly.

"Thank you," he told the dog-lover earnestly. Kiba grinned.

"Of course!" He replied cheerfully. "Any animal that talented has obviously been cared for. They both need to be treated well until they're both spick and span!"

"Spick and span?" Naruto repeated with a laugh. "Kiba, what are you, a grandma?"

"Shut up, Naruto!"

A soft smile on his face, Sasuke cuddled Kaoru for a moment appreciatively before handing her off to one of the medics, walking over to Inaré as they set her on a stretcher.

"Get better, okay?" He breathed softly to her, kissing her sweat-slicked forehead. She smiled weakly at him.

"I love you," she murmured feebly, barely audible. Sasuke's smile had tears at the edges (_oh my God, do you know how much blood there is, is that why-?)_, and he couldn't bring himself to answer as she was ushered to the hospital, Kankuro soon after. Raising a hand, he covered his mouth and turned his face away as she vanished.

In the end, Kankuro was declared the winner because of Sasuke and Naruto's inference, and Naruto gave Sasuke a hearty clap on the shoulder.

"She'll be fine," the blonde told him comfortingly as Sasuke wordlessly gazed down at the pool(_s_) of blood she had left behind. "She has to be, after all. Both her and Haku." The raven's eyes flickered up at him, and Naruto laughed. "Otherwise you'll be left alone with me and my team, and I don't think you'd appreciate that very much!"

Sasuke managed a weak laugh, but he felt his heart lift the littlest bit at the words.

"You're so weird, Naruto."

"H-hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Ah, everyone, please clear the bottom floor!" An obviously shaken Hayate called. "We'll begin the final match of the preliminaries! Sasuke Terranova versus Sai!"

**End Chapter Twenty-Two: Mother of All Things**

**Yep. Sorry to disappoint you guys. **

**But like Sasuke said, Kankuro's just a big fat cheater.**

**Also, yes. Completely shameless ripoff of my favorite video game EVER.**

**Read? Review? :D**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	44. Flashback Twenty-Two: Beast

OMG THERE IS SO MUCH BOLD(NESS) IN THIS FLASHBACK.

Enjoy. I dug writing this so much.

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Two – Beast**

_**There were only shadows, shapes, images. It smelled something alive and breathing (could hear panicked breaths, quick heartbeats) and absolutely delicious and it felt its claws elongate in glee. They were all prey; it knew. It was superior, powerful, and insurmountable. No other creature could match it, and pride and hunger simultaneously swelled within its bowels. **_

_**And those poor fools. What could they do… but burn?**_

_**Flickers of images in a vision plagued by red and black; everything was monochrome, with splashes of red and tiny bright lights that glimmered. Everything was hazy, and it jerked its head back and forth, its brain reading the images choppily and with some delay. Flashes of existence met its mind, but for the most part its world was ultimately black. Sight was practically useless, and the frantic beating of tiny hearts filled its ears to the point where it couldn't make out anything else. All it could do was feel; feel the fear and feel the fear fuel its own ravenous ferocity. **_

_**It wanted to kill. It wanted to eat. It wanted to oppress the weak and devour the strong, to ravage those that rebelled against it and shred those that ran. It desired these things more than anything else it had ever remembered feeling before, and it would destroy everything in its path to satisfy them. It knew this, without words. **_

_**Rising on all fours, it stumbled sideways on shaky legs, swinging its great head and opening its maw wide in an aching bellow. **_

_**If there was screaming, it went unheard. Suddenly there was a frenzy of sporadic, unnatural movements as it chased after what it wanted and hot liquid sprayed into its eyes and nose as it lashed out and clamped down, hearing one of the hearts – like a panicked little animal – die in its ears as many more snaps and crunches followed. **_

_**The feelings were too intense. The feeling of victory and bloodlust and rage and glee had it quivering uselessly for a moment, awkwardly backpedaling as it sought to regain some semblance of control. **_

_**Then, instinctively, it stopped fighting the rush. Stilling its entire body, the beast relaxed and allowed the emotions to completely overwhelm it, riding the wave and letting it rampage throughout its body. **_

_**Suddenly everything became crystal clear as its eyes snapped open. Still in only shades of red and grey, it saw tiny creatures on two legs wearing strange clothing shouting in a strange tongue at it, and the feeling of relish it would receive once it ripped them to shreds was too good to resist. **_

_**Feelings were not meant to be fought. It knew that now. It snapped its massive jaw outwards, catching one little animal within its teeth as their attacks bounced off its eerie, shifting flesh. The screams brought glee to its heart, and eagerly it jerked its head from side to side, shredding the creature like a rag doll. As it did so, it reached out with its claws, and the screaming that it suddenly heard and understood as something warm and comforting covered its body made its heart swell with joy. **_

_**There were no thoughts. Only feelings, only images. The more it felt, the more it craved, and the more violent it became as the warmth it consumed foamed in its mouth. Nothing mattered except fulfilling its desires, and it knew it couldn't bear to stop now – when it felt so wonderfully, deliciously, **__horribly__** good-**_

_**Wait. What was this? There was only one heartbeat left in the room now, and as it turned its angry red gaze upon it and opened its mouth, it found itself hesitating for some reason. Stopping, the angry trap quietly fell shut. Warm goodness dripped down its skin and from its lips, and it ached for more destruction, and yet…**_

_**This tiny little creature was unconscious on the floor, completely ready and ripe for the ripping, and yet the beast found itself pausing in its mission to slaughter. Confused, it simply gazed down at the little being intently, wondering what to do next. **_

"_It's lovely, isn't it?"_

_**Something quiet broke through the haze and buzz of what could be called its hearing, and it turned its head to look, not understanding what it had heard but seeking to destroy the source anyway. **_

_**Fire burned bright in its eyes when it did so, and it whimpered, turning its face away and hiding its eyes. Nothing had ever seared its senses so, and like an animal it shied away. **_

"_This is what happens when you feel too much," __**the little ball of fire near its feet continued, making it slink away. If it had to go somewhere else to gratify its cravings, it would do so. There was nothing else that interested it here. And yet it couldn't find a way out. Angrily, it paced around in a circle, stepping heavily upon the mutilated bodies beneath it, and looked around. **__"Feelings control you, and thought flees from you. All that exists is existence. Perhaps this is how you were truly meant to be."_

_**Irritation clawed at the beast's eyes, and it rubbed its muzzle against the floor – in the warmth that smelled so good – in exasperation, unable to escape the tiny ball of fire and unable to find a way out. **_

"_You must control this. Become familiar with the way you are now and do not fear it. Come to terms with it. Everyone becomes a monster when their feelings turn too great."_

_**Something in that voice that it couldn't understand bade the beast turn its head in the direction of the little ball of flame, closing its eyes against the bright white burn that filled its vision but remaining facing the object. The fire made its skin tingle almost pleasantly, and though it hurt to look upon the little sphere of light was almost comforting in its own quiet thirst for violence. In it, the brute almost found a kindred spirit. **_

"_Today, the beast within you has risen."_

_**There was a tiny circle of dry warmth on its snout as its eyes remained closed, head bowed.**_

"_And now, like all things great, the beast must fall."_

_**Everything went cold, cold, cold, and the creature abruptly felt itself being sucked back into its own chest, its own skin crawling inwards as the talons and fangs receded. It couldn't catch a handhold; it couldn't beg to save itself. With a echoing, sorrowful howl, it felt itself thrust back into its chilly, cramped prison of darkness where only stone, iron, and emptiness welcomed it. **_

**End Flashback Twenty-Two – Beast**

Yeah? Yeah? Yeaaaaaaah

Please review! :3

Much love,

DDB


	45. Beast

**I love you guys. I really do. **

**I had to go back and rewrite this a little bit because I was in such a craze to get this and the next couple of chapters out that they felt so horribly rushed. But I think they turned out nicely. :)**

**Enjoy! I already am. **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Beast**

Sasuke's eyes snapped open wide at the words, and he felt a wicked grin split his face as he turned his eyes up towards the balcony, his eyes falling directly on his proclaimed opponent.

Naruto immediately felt the air around him grow colder as Sasuke's icy smile widened, and Sai fought to keep his face even as the expression make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Every instinct told him to run.

_Run and go now before you get eaten alive-_

Naruto swallowed.

"Ah, well, good luck!" He stammered nervously, turning tail and bailing as soon as he physically could, dragging a thoroughly-confused Sakura along with him.

"You hate me so much, insect?" Sasuke called up to Sai, raising his arms and spreading them wide. "Why don't you come down here and show me just how much?"

Sai sneered, jumping down from the viewing platform to land solidly on the floor across from Sasuke.

"My pleasure, _pest_," he snapped back, his ninja scroll at his belt as he moved into the center of the room. Dagina bared her teeth, snarling and ready to rip his chest open, but Sasuke kneeled down and set a hand on her flank. Silently, whining softly, Dagina took her cue and padded away. "Don't worry; you'll be joining your teammates soon."

"Tough words, coming from someone who's about to die," Sasuke replied easily, his eyes cold. Sai sneered at him.

"We'll see," he challenged, making Sasuke smile. The air between them practically sizzled with lightning as they began to slowly circle each other, and Naruto felt the pit of his stomach roll nervously. None of the other matches had set him on edge quite like this one. Not even his own. Maybe it was Sasuke. Maybe it was Sai. Maybe it was the chilling, undoubtedly cruel aura that had started pouring from Sasuke's form as soon as the pairing was revealed.

Sasuke wanted a method in which to release his anger, his rage, his guilt. Everything that had been growing and churning within him since Haku's defeat and Inaré's almost-demise. And Sai might have just been exactly what he was looking for. Naruto didn't know why Sasuke was guilty, but he knew that look. He knew that expression of anger and sadness and hopelessness.

He had seen it in the mirror many a time.

"Don't kill him, Sasuke," Naruto breathed weakly as he rested his chin on the forearms that lay upon the railing, his eyes downcast. "Please."

The match start was announced.

Immediately, the two flew at each other, a flurry of punches and kicks and spins that sent them across the entirety of the fighting space in their vigor. It was if they both had something to prove; a statement they both wanted to make, and only by fighting the loudest could it be heard.

Sai was good at taijutsu. Maybe not as good as when in comparison with his sketching, Kakashi knew, but good.

Good enough, however, to stand against Sasuke? He had no idea. He hadn't witnessed the boy's battle with Orochimaru, but the Hokage had.

And had Kakashi been dreaming, or had he seen a glimmer of fear in the old man's eyes as he spoke of it? Such an idea had shaken the Jounin to the core, and he wondered if his current pupil would exit the battleground alive.

Naruto, however, had seen Sasuke's bout with the Sannin, and he could see the differences in styles. The Sasuke before had been detailed, no motion left wasted and no breath left unused - every aspect of his body had been geared both towards self-preservation and striking to kill. He had been like a machine; cold and merciless. Orochimaru had only missed by fractions of an inch, because fractions were all that mattered. During that battle, everything Sasuke did (every fraction of space that he did or did not relent) had been absolutely essential to the battle.

This Sasuke he saw now was... different. He was feral in nature, cruel and deadly and vicious. He lashed out without leave, without pause for thought of his own well-being, attacking relentlessly and dodging only out of necessity. Sai landed punches, but they didn't seem to register to the other male. They were both weak in strength or merely grazes (lacking the precision of a Sannin's skills) and Sasuke didn't waste his time moving away from them. His tactic was a mirror image of his female teammate's, pushing and pushing and pushing at his opponent in hopes of infuriating him enough to get him reckless.

The Sasuke before had fascinated Naruto with his calculating, silent art. Admittedly, the entire reason he couldn't bring himself to intervene was the sheer beauty of the entire thing. He had felt a stirring in his heart and his loins that had made him breathless. But this new Sasuke... only succeeded in terrifying him. Something deep within Naruto stirred, a sense of animalistic danger and fear that he never truly remembered experiencing before, and it made him tightly grip the railing in hopes of keeping himself grounded. As Sasuke fought, as his fighting grew more and more ferocious, Naruto felt his breath getting shallower and shallower, a cold sweat running down his face. His skin began to crawl, and the urge to run away grew greater and greater.

_Go run now save yourself-_

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, noticing the uneasy change. "Are you okay?"

He couldn't answer for a moment, unable to take his eyes from the match.

"N-no, Sakura..." he breathed softly. "I don't think I am."

_My heart… is pounding so hard._

"You have to fight it."

A warm, heavy hand set itself on his shoulder, and Naruto jumped, snapping out of his trance to look upwards.

Zabuza stood next to him, his hand like an anchor to reality as Naruto gazed up at him.

"You have to fight it, that fear," Zabuza told him. "Don't let it rule you. Watch. Learn. Keep your eyes open. Don't turn your gaze away."

Kakashi, having lifted his eyes just long enough to see the man's interaction with his student, dropped his eyes again.

_Interesting. _He thought, sensing Naruto's Chakra idly. He pursed his lips. _Now why would Sasuke's fight be affecting Naruto like that and no one else? _His gaze flickered over to Gaara before his eyes went back down to the battle.

"What are you hiding, Sasuke?" He asked quietly.

A laugh that sounded close to a cackle and a choked gasp brought Naruto's attention back to the battle, and he saw that - in one well-placed lunge - Sasuke had snatched Sai's jaw in his left hand and raised his arm, clenching the boy's mandible powerfully in between his fingers as he raised the other fighter a foot off the floor, Sai's feet dangling as Sasuke grinned at him.

"Still think I'm not worthy of my reputation?" Sasuke asked him in glee, eyes flashing. Kakashi's single eye widened as he felt rather than saw; the Curse Mark was pulsating angrily beneath Sasuke's shirt - beneath the seal he had placed upon it. Sasuke's guilt over Haku _(it was because of me that he got so hurt)_, his rage over Inaré _(Gods there was so much blood and I did nothing)_- he had been fighting and fighting it down, and now thanks to Sai's big mouth, he finally had an outlet for which to let all those negative feelings escape. "You pathetic twit!"

_I wouldn't be so inclined to hurt you if you weren't such an massive fucking asshole-_

"Don't, Sasuke," Kakashi breathed, suddenly fearing the worst as he felt his face go cold. "Oh please, don't-!"

Sasuke's grip on the other fighter's jaw tightened painfully, and Sai winced, his body quivering.

Dagina howled, and Sasuke withdrew his right hand, curling it tightly into a fist as he pulled it far, far back.

Wordlessly, he released Sai's face long enough to power his fist into it, delivering the entire force of his body behind the blow and sending Sai sailing to smash into the wall perpendicular to them with a cry. Sasuke's face had split into a mad grin, and he stalked – like an animal on two legs – towards Sai to finish the job, flexing his fingers as if he were extending claws. Naruto's eyes widened, as did Kakashi's.

"Sai!"

"Sasuke..."

His name, thought it was barely uttered, make Sasuke blink and pause, his eyes losing that fierce and terrifying gaze.

_Haku?_

He shuddered and shook his head, holding his brow in a palm as if a headache had suddenly come on and turning his face to the floor.

_What's going on? _Sasuke thought in panic, having heard Naruto's cry as well. He looked over at the wall, where Sai's body lay. He didn't even remember punching the other fighter. And as he thought about it he realized he didn't remember at least half of the physical bout that they just had. _What am I doing?_

Then he felt it. He felt the rumbling in his breast and the rage clawing at the back of his eyes. He felt the nerves beneath his nail beds itch to dig into flesh and tear muscle from bone. He knew it was because of his fear and his frustration and regret and knew that if he didn't stop it right now, put an end to it _right now_, it would mean danger for everyone and nobody would ever look at him the same-

_"You must watch yourself..."_

"I have to stop," Sasuke breathed in horror, fully realizing what was happening to him as the brand on his shoulder pulsed and seemed to writhe beneath his skin. Raising a hand, he clenched his shoulder, as if in hope that covering the mark would quiet it down as he struggled to regulate his frantic breathing. He kept his eyes down as his pupils dilated in fear, his other hand rising to cover one half of his face as the world suddenly seemed to spin. "I can't keep fighting like this. I have to forfeit!"

"I knew you were pathetic." Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard a voice behind him. "Can't even tell the difference between a clone and the real thing."

Sasuke whirled to face the voice as the Sai that had hit the wall dispersed in a flash of paper tags, and he immediately raised an arm to block the attack sent his way, instinctively counterattacking with a kick to his opponent's side. There was no thought to the reaction, no internal conversation. His body simply reacted, as it was trained to do.

Automatically leaping forward to continue the assault, Sasuke felt the mark on his shoulder throb painfully again, and he jerked, stopping himself mid-attack and dropping his arms down to his sides as he tried to control himself, backing away a couple of feet to get some space between them.

_I can't fight. _He thought, breathing hard. _To fight is to potentially lose control, but... _

"Out of breath already, great shinobi?" Sai taunted, grinning as he readied himself for another exchange. "Some fighter you and your partners were! Can't even handle a little bit of taijutsu!"

"Sai..." Kakashi breathed grimly, running a hand through his hair. "Shut up."

Sasuke grit his teeth angrily.

_But it's so __**fucking **__hard with that dick shooting his mouth off! _

"Shut up," Sasuke warned icily, eyes flashing. "I'm serious. You're gonna regret it if you don't."

_"You're gonna regret it."_

Sasuke's eyes widened as the words flashed through his mind.

_No!_

"That, I sincerely doubt," Sai replied with a smile, taking Sasuke's expression as fear of fighting him and thoroughly enjoying it. "Now, where were we?"

He leaped forward for the physical assault. Sasuke felt his body instinctively react (one hand up, the other to the side, feet squared in stance ready to block and counter) and fought against it, stilling his body, steeling his face and squaring up his feet, readying himself for the strike as his fingers curled into fists-

_I can't I just can't-_

He let Sai punch him square in the jaw, and the pain that flared through his face was just enough to distract him from the slowly-growing agony of the Curse Mark as his face wrenched to the side and he staggered backwards, arms reaching out to steady himself.

For an instant, his rage seemed to flicker in and out of existence, and Sasuke's eyes widened as he pulled himself straight again.

_Pain. That's it. Punch me. Just keep your mouth shut and keep punching me-_

"Where's all that big talk now?" Sai laughed, punching Sasuke repeatedly as the other Genin went with it, rolling with the punches and taking them without complaint, the sickening cracks with each contact Sai's knuckles made against bone filling the air. "You were going to kill me, weren't you? And your partner was going to rip all of the Sand ninja's limbs off, wasn't she? You're all bark and no bite, aren't you? Pathetic!"

_Shut up. Shut up. _Sasuke silently begged as he allowed himself to be beaten, over and over again. He struggled to clear his mind, to focus on purely the pain outside and not the pain he felt on the inside as Inaré's bloody and beaten face flickered in and out of his mind. _The entire point of letting you beat the shit out of me is kind of lost if you don't shut the fuck **up**._

Finally, Sai delivered quite a brutal uppercut (very similar to the one Sasuke had given to his clone) and Sasuke quite literally flew off his feet to crash hard onto the ground on his belly, hair falling about him and body curling within itself as one arm rested beneath him.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?!" Naruto called angrily when Sasuke didn't immediately get back up. "Fight back! Why aren't you fighting back?!"

"He's protecting him, Naruto," Kakashi breathed sadly. "He's protecting all of us."

_Who knows what sort of beast that Curse Mark will unleash given the chance… _

Sasuke lay still for a moment, feeling the bones in his jaw fuse back together with a tingling itch that was almost painful, and he studied himself silently.

The Curse Mark was still there. It was still throbbing and he was still very, very angry. The pain from the wounds faded as his skin repaired itself, and Sasuke was left sulking on the floor.

_If only the idiot had just shut his fucking mouth..._

Shifting, he lifted himself up the littlest bit and turned his head, and Sai grinned.

"Oh, you haven't had enough?" He asked in excitement, the hair hiding Sasuke's eyes from view. "Good. I was beginning to think you had passed out, and I was going to be extremely disappointed."

Dagina snarled, leaping forward and going to her master's side, growling deeply at the other shinobi. Weakly, Sasuke took a fistful of her fur in hand, lifting himself up to lean against her flank.

"Hush, my dear," he breathed to her, running his other hand through her fur. "I told you to stay back. You were fine just where you were. I'll be fine. We'll both be fine."

_You have to stay back. You have to stay safe. I need you to stay safe. _

The creature whined, turning her head to snuggle against him and lick his face worriedly. Grimly, he pushed her affections away.

"You need to go."

Suddenly a whistling sound filled the air, and Sasuke looked up to see black and white monsters that carried the heads of lions with tusks upon bodies of whimsically balls of gas flying towards them from Sai's direction, and he and his animal instantaneously scattered in different ways.

Sai had his scroll and ink out, brush in hand. He smiled to himself as he drew something else to make the Terranova suffer.

_I think I know just the thing._

"Underestimating me was a bad idea, Sasuke Terranova," he breathed in glee as more lions burst from his pages. "Behold, my Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"

"What a stupid name," Sasuke breathed as he dodged the creatures, dealing single blows to each that were enough to dispel them as he flipped and spun. "You really think some stupid art projects are going to be enough?"

The beating idea hadn't worked, and Sasuke found himself even more furious _(it was your fault that Haku got hurt) _than before as he dodged and attacked and leaped away from the flying animations. The amount of lion-heads were quickly multiplying _(you didn't do anything to save Inaré)_, and they grew so numerous that Sasuke had a hard trouble seeing Sai or his pet as they swirled around _(you just stood there and fucking watched)_, let alone getting to them. Despite being so fragile _(you actually listened to her, you idiot, who does that-?)_, those teeth were frighteningly sharp, and Sasuke felt painful slices across his skin as one barely grazed him before the wounds smoothed over.

_They're hurt. They're hurt and maybe even dying and it's all my fault. _

A sharp howl cut through the air, and Sasuke looked over and _knew _even though he couldn't see that Dagina had been struck. There had been too many to aim for just him, so of course she would be another target. The vindictive bastard that Sai was.

_No. _

He rushed forward, cutting through all of the animations that stood in his way to get to the animal.

"Dagina!"

He saw her, leaning heavily against the wall. Her flank was bleeding; there was blood staining her fur - Gods he _knew _she shouldn't have stepped in-

_She stepped in for you, you idiot. _

"NO!"

_You should've just killed him when you had the chance. _

Sai suddenly appeared in front of him, between him and Dagina, and Sasuke swore as he dashed towards the other ninja that he didn't care who the other fighter belonged to or who loved him he was going to _die _if he didn't get _out of the fucking way_-!

"Sealing technique! Tiger Vision Staring Bullet!"

Sasuke's widened.

_No - when did he get the time to draw that-?!_

A massive black and white tiger burst through the pages in front of Sasuke, towering over him and reaching forward with angry claws and gnashing teeth as the Terranova had no choice but to run _straight into it_.

The fangs sank into his left shoulder blade, and Sasuke let out a strangled scream as they dived into the brand of the Curse Mark, making something of an electric shock course through his system.

"No!" He cried, digging his heels into the ground and clawing at the drawing as the tiger started to pull him into Sai's scroll, Sai grinning from where he held it up. He could feel it- the indigo markings, the redness that began to gather at the corners of his eyes, the itching in his fingers; he couldn't let it happen he _couldn't_- "You don't know what you're doing! Stop it!"

"Oh, I think I know exactly what I'm doing!" Sai exclaimed in glee as every inch Sasuke was pulled forward had his sight blurring all the more and that electric shock surging through his system more and more powerfully. He could feel his muscles start to spasm with the strain- "I'm winning this match and getting a new trophy for my collections!"

_Just let him win. _Sasuke told himself as he struggled. _Just let him win and get sucked in. Don't let yourself-_

_**No.**_

His eyes widened, and his entire body stilled for a fraction of an instant as everything seemed to end.

_**You will not. **_

Taking its chance, the tiger yanked him backwards with it, and he was silently sucked into Sai's scroll, vanishing from sight and reappearing as a sketch in its pages.

"NO!" Naruto cried. "SASUKE!"

_**You will not be defeated by some mere child.**_

Cackling as the wind faded, Sai snapped his sketchbook shut and smiled proudly, running his thumb along the spine.

"So much for the Land of Waves team," he cooed in pride. "What a disappointment." Smiling as he walked into the center of the room to be declared the winner, he opened his book up and searched for his new prize.

_**Blood will rain.**_

"Um... well..." Hayate muttered, looking around as the intense battle suddenly came to a screeching halt. Naruto seemed completely let down, but Kakashi and Zabuza were still very tense. Hayate raised a hand. "And the match goes to-"

"AH!" Sai, having found the page that he had entrapped Sasuke in, yelped, dropping his book to the floor and interrupting the proctor. "What the... what the hell is that?!"

The tiger he had used to ensnare the Terranova had been slaughtered.

**End Chapter Twenty Three: Beast**

**DUNDUNDUN!**

**Enjoyed? Review?**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	46. Flashback Twenty-Three: Burn

**Hey goise. :3**

**Enjoy this latest update! These two now officially mark the end of all the chapters I had written up in advance. -.-''**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Three: Burn**

_**Dark dark so dark and it felt so good so warm so alive little things in front of him yummy delicious weak perfect wanted them needed them hungry craving BLOOOOOOD-**_

_Sasuke awoke with a start to see a relieved face above him. One that he knew and understood and desired so completely it hurt-_

"_HAKU!"_

_He leaped up into a sitting position, catching the other across the chest and burying his face into the other's clothing, letting the smell of snow and lilies engulf him as he clung to the older boy. _

"_Are you okay?" He asked, voice muffled as Haku embraced him. He felt so alive and warm and it made Sasuke almost want to cry- "Are you okay? Oh Gods I was so scared-!"_

"_I'm well, dearheart," Haku breathed softly, rubbing the boy's back reassuringly. "For you, I will always be well. You were the one we were worried about."_

_Opening his eyes, Sasuke gazed over Haku's shoulders to drink in the foreign, sparsely decorated room that had only one window, two doors and two plain beds. Noises of a bustling street crept upwards through the window, hinting to Sasuke that they were at least higher than the second floor of the building. He immediately saw Tyra leaning against the wooden dresser that the TV sat on, her arms crossed, and she smirked slightly at him and gave him a little nod before his eyes continued on. In the middle of the room stood Zabuza, looking at him with something akin to worry over Haku's shoulder. Sasuke managed to smile weakly at him, and the man seemed to visibly relax as he looked away to the window that was letting sunlight stream in, hands in his pockets. Ah, now the boy understood. Zabuza couldn't look weak in front of his little gal pal. The idea almost made Sasuke laugh._

_But he didn't see the young girl, and he was relieved. He wasn't confused about her anymore._

_Just afraid._

"_What happened?" He finally asked, releasing Haku. As Haku sat beside him on the edge of the bed, Sasuke raised a hand and touched Haku's shoulder softly. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"_

"_No, they didn't," Haku reassured him, lifting a hand to take Sasuke's within it and hold the younger boy's palm to his cheek. Haku's skin was warm and soft and comforting beneath Sasuke's touch, and the young boy sighed. "They weren't allowed to." Moving Sasuke's hand to his lap and embracing it with both of his, Haku continued. "Some great beast saved us. Tore all of those wicked men apart. I can't say I'm not grateful for it, but…" Haku shrugged, and looked away with a troubled expression on his face. Sasuke's stomach rolled in nervousness, even as Haku's thumb caressed the back of his hand. "The way in which the creature dispatched those men was… gruesome. As if it enjoyed ripping those poor people apart." He shrugged, mostly to himself, before looking back to Sasuke and smiling. "It saved us though, so I suppose I can't complain, right? It saved you, and I am forever in that beast's debt." Raising a hand, he touched Sasuke's cheek softly. "I never would've been able to forgive myself if I had let something happen to you."_

_This made Sasuke smile as his heart swelled. Turning his face into Haku's touch, he nuzzled it. _

_**Funny. **__He thought happily. __**I could say the same thing about you.**_

_He was so, so relieved. _

_**It's okay. He still loves you.**_

"_It's good to see you're okay, brat," Zabuza stated as he walked over to the bed, ruffling Sasuke's hair. "You were asleep the entire first day we were here."_

_This made Sasuke blink._

"_We're here?" He asked breathlessly. "We made it?" He looked around more attentively now, drinking in the faded wallpaper, old carpet and too-clean sheets. "We're in Andora?"_

"_Yep," Zabuza replied, almost proudly. "It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but we finally did." He eyed his student a little more seriously. "Did you manage to get a look at what saved you? I wanna find whatever it was that did it and thank it. The number it did on that asshole guide was just fantastic." Sasuke could tell the man relished the memory as he gazed dreamily upwards. "The blood… oh the blood and guts were just everywhere!"_

_Sasuke blinked and realized he had absolutely no memory of what happened._

_At least, he thought he didn't._

"_Ah, no," he replied, honestly enough even as he felt his nerves begin to quiver again. "I guess I got knocked unconscious."_

_Zabuza seemed a little disappointed but shrugged, patting Sasuke on the shoulder._

"_It's okay. It doesn't matter," he told the boy. "What matters is that both you and Haku are safe, and the bitches responsible for making you not safe were given __**very **__unpleasant deaths. That's all I can ask for." He smiled at Sasuke from under the bandages. "Rest, okay? Get your strength back. We'll get you some food and then we'll go look around the town. I'm sure you'll find it exciting."_

_He turned away, Sasuke noticed that Tyra wasn't in the room anymore, and Haku smiled at him, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Sasuke's cheek._

"_I'm so happy you're okay, my dear," he breathed, running his fingers through Sasuke's hair lovingly as the younger boy rested his head on the other's shoulder with a smile. "We'll be back soon."_

_With that, Haku and Zabuza departed, leaving Sasuke very alone. _

_He wasn't entirely sure he liked that, and he pouted, feeling vulnerable. _

_Swallowing, he looked down at his hands. He couldn't __**see **__any blood on them, but they felt hot – as if they were burning with it. _

_He felt dirty. Dirty and scared and so horrifyingly strong-_

_**What was that? What did that?**_

"_I'm sure you're not surprised you're drained."_

_He jumped, pushing himself back against the headrest at the words as the second door across from the bed opened, Tyra walking out of it and drying her hands with a towel. Wordlessly, she gave him an easy half-smile, and Sasuke allowed his eyes to drop by her knees._

_The girl stood there, eyes big and black and full of nothing._

"_What did you do to me?!" Sasuke stammered, feeling his heart in his throat. "What have you done?! What kind of Jutsu lets you-?!"_

"_That was no Jutsu, Sasuke," the girl stated simply, walking over to him. Tyra moved as well, but to the single dresser, setting the towel atop it as her gaze went back to her blonde charge. "That was simply you. Don't be frightened. It was beautiful."_

"_You're a monster!" Sasuke bit out, realizing only after how hypocritical that sounded. "I don't know what you did, but-!"_

"_I allowed you to protect the one that you love," she interrupted emotionlessly, the simple statement making the boy fall silent as he stared at her. Climbing up onto the bed, she sat in front of him and crossed her legs, dress shifting to cover her knees. "There is something great and horrifying within you, Sasuke," she began as he gazed solemnly at her. "It is terrible, and you must keep watch over it. It can be your greatest ally. It can protect you and everything you'll ever hold dear. It can allow you to never experience defeat or death. But it is dangerous, and it will destroy you and everything around you if you are weak. Your past haunts you like a ghost, and you must keep it at bay. There is much darkness in your heart…" she raised a hand, and touched his forehead softly even as he winced away from her fingertips. At the contact, he felt his heart grow warm, and his chest tingled pleasantly without his consent. "But darkness is only a bad thing if you allow it to be. You have a chance to do great things, child. Terrible, but great." She withdrew her fingers, and Sasuke suddenly found himself turning cold as he opened his eyes to gaze at her. Suddenly, those big black eyes didn't seem as terrifying as before. It frightened him that he suddenly felt at peace in this girl's presence, and he couldn't deny the terror that came with the easiness._

_What had she done to him?_

_Silently, the girl turned away from him and slid off the bed, moving towards the exit door. Tyra, who had silently resumed the position Sasuke had initially saw her in at the dresser, watched her charge pass her before standing straight and silently following._

_Before she reached the door, however, the little girl paused and turned to look at Sasuke silently over her shoulder._

"_You must be careful with yourself, Sasuke Terranova," she stated as Tyra paused as well. "If you do not, everything around you will burn." Her eyes seemed to darken as she turned back towards the door. "__**Again**__."_

_Sasuke swallowed thickly, unable to say a word as the two vanished, and he knew he had questions and knew he wanted to ask them, but at the same time he knew they wouldn't be answered._

_He got the feeling that she would not elaborate anymore than what was already said._

_**Sasuke… Terranova…**_

_He closed his eyes. For some reason, the name seemed to fit him perfectly, and he was a little bitter about it. She ruins everything he thought he knew of himself, __**and **__she decides to name him? What nerve._

_Still. He couldn't deny the kinship he felt with the word._

_**Terranova. Terranova.**_

"_Terranova…"_

_**Yes. I am a Terranova now.**_

_**And I can't let it happen again.**_

**End Flashback Twenty-Three: Burn**

**Oh my!**

**Did you enjoy? I hope you did.**

**The conclusion of the battle is up next!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	47. Master of Cruelties

**Why greetings! Fancy seeing you here. :3**

**Be warned. You're probably going to be taken aback by this chapter. It's up to you whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. But let's just give the disclaimer that this is fanfiction, and this is only as much of Naruto-verse as I desire it to be (with some input from you reviewers :P).**

**With that soft reminder, on with the show!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Master of Cruelties**

Naruto blinked in realization as Sai backed away in horror from his sketch book, raising an arm to shield his face.

"It's not over, is it?" The blonde asked Zabuza softly, making the man look down at him. Naruto lifted his eyes to gaze at Sasuke's teacher. "He's still in there?"

Zabuza looked at him almost sadly.

"It's never over," he replied simply before looking back to the fight. "At least not when it comes to him."

"What is that...?" Sakura breathed in a mixture of horror and awe, raising hand to her lips. "What is that... do you feel that? What is it?"

Naruto turned his head, blinking at his teammate.

"What is it, Sakura?"

Her breathing turned shallow, and she raised a hand to set it tentatively over her heart as she gazed downwards at the book.

"It feels like…" she breathed in horror. "…death…"

Lying there open, Sai's sketchbook seemed relatively harmless enough, but then a sudden pulse rippled outwards, making Sai back up even more.

_I can't do it-_

On its own, the sketchbook shifted, shuddered. The papers began to twitch. Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"What…" he breathed as he felt the blood in his face run cold. "What is this?"

_I can't do this I can't control it I have to stop (you failed them) I have to stop-_

A strange wind began to pick up in the room, and Hayate lowered his hand and looked around in unease as power began to sizzle through the air. Tremors of fear and anger and terror radiated from the book's pages like the power that sang a ghostly tune around it, and everyone could feel the breath catch in their throats. Red smoke began to issue out of the pages.

"What… what's going on?" Ino gasped, setting a hand on her chest and shrinking closer to Shikamaru. "My heart… it hurts!"

"This is intense!" Kiba bit out, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth as he gripped the railing for dear life. He felt as if the book was attempting to suck him in, and Akamaru began to bark wildly at his feet as his animal instincts began to run haywire with fear. "This is too intense!"

_I have to protect them I have to save them (but you couldn't save them) I have to keep this under control-_

Kakashi felt his heart drop as fear rose to take its place, and he drew in a shaky breath.

"Oh no," he breathed. _Burn the book we have to burn the book-_ "Oh no. Oh no, please, Sasuke-!"

_I can't let it burn again I have to stop this (Inaré and Haku depended on you) I have to regain control-_

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt that fear return, and his skin began to relentlessly crawl as Zabuza tensed beside him.

_I can't let them down this isn't me (you let them both down idiot) this can't be me this can't be who I really am-_

_"There is something great and horrifying within you, Sasuke..."_

_NO!_

Dagina was unconscious against the wall behind Sai- the last thing that had allowed Sasuke to cling desperately to reality was gone and now the tension in the room was growing and growing and growing, swelling like a mighty tsunami seeking to engulf the land-

_I have to stop this I have to end this I have to try (it's because of you) I have to keep sane I have to-_

And suddenly everything seemed to still. Kakashi could feel a great mouth beneath him opening wide in a silent scream, like a whirlpool spreading wide to consume everything unlucky enough to get caught even in its outermost currents as an acute sense of dread filled his lungs-

_I have to stop this I have to end this I have to try (they're dead) I have to kI__**IIIIILL-!**_

The stench of death flooded the room.

A great, unearthly roar not of this plane erupted from the pages of the sketch book, and flickers of lightning seared the air around it as it quivered and shook, dancing around with pages flapping and hopping as something within it moved and threw itself against its prison bars. The sound of something guttural and demonic filled the room – a single note of living hell that grew stronger and louder and never paused or hesitated, and a storm seemed to take shape, wind increasing in intensity and the flickers of electricity become bigger and more powerful the more the sketchbook quaked. Unholy mixtures of screams of terror (like a poor woman being ripped to pieces and begging, begging for it to stop, or a man yelling his surrender as he was torn apart) and roars of rage mingled together like a ghastly chorus, filling the room and everybody's hearts with dread. Sounds of ripping flesh and spraying blood intertwined as it seemed like the book had turned into a portal directly into the infernal abyss.

"Oh…" the Hokage murmured. "This is going to be bad."

The sound of an explosion broke the barrier as an arm - clawed and solid burgundy in color, any sort of skin tone or nail coloration completely gone - burst from the pages of the book, stretching up into the air before reaching back and then lunging forward, slamming downwards to dig its talons into the floor in front of Sai, etching deep scars into the concrete. As if it sought to anchor itself so it could drag the rest up with it. Sai leaped back, quivering as he watched the arm begin to shake as it started to pull.

Like a demon trying to drag itself out of hell.

Unnatural (or natural, considering the circumstances) fear struck everyone's hearts, and even Zabuza had to close his eyes and look away.

_No, Sasuke. _He thought in horror. _No._

"I knew I shouldn't have had those gummy bears," Choji stated simply, eyes wide and pupils dilated as he stared dumbly downwards.

The roar descended into ominous rumbling, and everyone could see the arm tense up and pull itself back a little bit more as it fought against the binding Sai's jutsu had upon it, the limb trembing with the strain.

"Oh Gods…" Temari breathed in shock. "What _is _that?!"

Her remaining brother simply stood there, braced against the anger and the fear infecting his system as the monster within him thrashed and writhed like a frightened animal.

_What's going on? _He thought in horror that wasn't his as the creature's instincts told him to run, run far away or _Gods both of us are going to die-_

_What is this feeling?_

The limb succeeded, and the head and shoulders burst up through the pages with another baritone cry, making everyone gasp.

Sasuke's hair had gone completely white, save for the streaks of burgundy (like the color of dark red wine or poisoned blood) along the strands, moving and writhing about like a halo of snakes. The whites of his eyes had changed into that same color as well, with the pupils and irises having bled into white. His face still largely retained the same skin tone, but now there were dark red symbols (from the Curse Mark) littering the skin in patterns that wasn't completely drowned in the different color.

It wasn't completely the Curse Mark, but it wasn't completely Sasuke either. Kakashi was baffled and terrified all at the same time.

_Oh. I don't think I quite know how to deal with this._

Canine teeth elongated into the length of a massive predatory animal, Sasuke turned his attention to his opponent: Sai.

"What... what is that?!" Sai stammered, practically pissing his pants. "What are you?!"

"Well…" Kakashi breathed grimly. "I suppose a demon might be a proper name for it."

Sasuke didn't answer; he simply opened his mouth wide to let out another cannibalistic cry that shook the room as he yanked up his other arm from the pages, sending it to crash down into the cement to find purchase in the ground.

There were no words with this new Sasuke as he dragged himself out of the book towards Sai, his entire body emerging from the pages and the object falling lifeless behind him, smoldering. There were only feelings, only images. Rage enveloped the room; a misty red haze issued from the pores in his back along either side of his spine as his shirt had seemed to meld into his skin and as he crouched on all fours (palms and feet), his left shoulder blade pulsed fiercely with Chakra, pounding the hate into his system. His entire body moved and shifted and rolled within itself and its fury.

_I don't understand it. _Kakashi thought, knowing he had to act to stop it but finding himself unable to move. He was sure all of the other teachers in the room were being affected the same way. The pressure he felt upon his lungs was unlike anything he had ever experienced before - like a mighty creature three times his size pressing its hoof upon his chest as it leaned down to rip his arms off. _The seal isn't broken. Just fractured. And yet __**this **__is happening. This shouldn't be happening. If the seal is still partially there, it should still be helping regulate the Curse Mark's Chakra. Unless…_

His eyes widened.

_Unless that Chakra isn't all coming from the Curse Mark. _

"No…" he breathed in horror. "No. No way."

Sasuke's talons wordlessly elongated, piercing the cement beneath his hands, and the canines that were already longer lengthened still and he bared his teeth like an animal. The haunting cries of agony seemed to intensify in both greatness and severity, and the sounds of snapping bones joined the fray. Lightning and thunder flashed and rolled from the storm cloud that had gathered upon the ceiling, and powerful winds whipped through the room as the red mist surrounded Sasuke's form like a poisoned fog.

"O-okay!" Sai stammered, stumbling backwards and lifting his hands up. "If the match is that important to you, you can have it! I surrender! You win!"

"It's too late for that," Kakashi muttered. "It's already too late." _It's been too late. _Moving, he leaned over the railing and yelled to Hayate as Sasuke tossed his head, every single muscle in his body quivering beneath the darkened skin as he seemed to sniff the air. "HAYATE! WE HAVE TO STOP SASUKE! IF WE DON'T HE'S GOING TO KILL SAI!"

As if on command, Sasuke growled and leaped forward, lunging for Sai's throat as he moved like some deformed, half-man half-beast. His speed was ridiculous, and he cleared the half of arena that separated him and his prey in four long strides. Wordlessly, he leaped high up into the air and sent himself directly at Sai, claws extended.

Sai was too terrified – a prey caught in a trap of Sasuke's fiendish eyes – to move, standing there with wide, horrified eyes as the beast came for him.

"SAI!" Naruto called raggedly, leaning forward. "_MOVE!_"

He didn't.

Before Sasuke could slam into his opponent and sink his angry teeth into the other fighter's throat, Kakashi tackled him furiously, sending him careening sideways as they both hit the floor. Tumbling, tangled up in each other, Kakashi managed to throw Sasuke sideways, slamming his back into the far wall.

_I'm ready. I'm ready to die to stop you because there is just __**no way**__ you are the student I used to have-_

Pressing his hand to Sasuke's throat and pushing down on the boy's windpipe, the Jounin fought back the senseless fear and rage and terror he felt as he breathed in the blood red fumes surrounding Sasuke (something that smelled like rust and death and horrific agony that made him want to piss his pants and slaughter babies all at once) and pressed the blade of a kunai against his ex-student's throat.

_He can heal, you idiot... _The thought passed idly through Kakashi's mind, but he had no choice to ignore it as Sasuke gagged. _Don't care – what choice do I have?_

"You have to stop, Sasuke!" He bit out, staring into those all-consuming, petrifying red and white eyes, wincing beneath that feral gaze as every instinct in his body screamed at him to run and take cover. He felt like a bunny rabbit raising cane to the very hawk that hunted him, so great his terror. "Stop, or I will kill you!"

_Burn the witch burn the witch burn the witch-_

His warning seemed to go unheard, as the Uchiha struggled and writhed and hissed beneath Kakashi's hand, his breathing choked and strained beneath Kakashi's palm as blood seeped down his skin and onto his ex-teacher's hand. Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he inwardly kicked himself. There now he's done it he made the threat and now if he doesn't follow through he'll never be able to save Sasuke after all-

Sasuke made as if to lash out for Kakashi's throat, to force the Jounin's hand and make him send that kunai into the boy's neck, and as the grey-headed man whimpered silently and started to do so Sasuke violently jerked as if he had been punched across the face, quietly slumping beneath his old teacher's hand with head bowed and going completely limp.

_**Enough.**_

Slowly, all of the insanity that had clouded the room seemed to fade. The chilling chorus fell silent, the red mist and storm cloud that had filled the room dispersed, and the abnormal color that had tinted Sasuke's skin disappeared, his hair bleeding back into his characteristic dark silken black from tips to roots.

_**That is enough.**_

Breathless, Kakashi could only watch in awe as he felt the pressure upon his heart lift. What if this was a trick? Some sort of ploy? But no it couldn't be because Sasuke's very Chakra was changing-

_**Your temper tantrum is over.**_

Now it was like he didn't have any.

"Thank you, Kakashi," Sasuke stated simply, monotonously – as if he were bored with the whole thing. Raising his chin, he gave Kakashi a chillingly emotionless stare that made Kakashi blink in confusion. The boy's eyes were bluish-green now, clear as a pale sea green ocean as his teacher dumbly stared at him. "You can let go of me know."

"You…" the Jounin breathed, scrunching his eyes as he gazed at his student. Then a flicker of realization of _something _seemed to pass across his mind and he could feel himself piecing it together as he continued and oh Gods he _knew it- _"You're the-!"

"Kakashi," Sasuke reiterated emotionlessly, cutting that train of thought off as if Kakashi had been ordered to do so, making the Jounin blink dumbly at him as whatever he had realized was forgotten. "Release me, please."

Numbly, Kakashi obeyed, blinking in confusion as Sasuke wordlessly dusted himself off and walked past the older man, face carved into stone.

Reaching the center of the room, Sasuke slowly, slowly, sloooooooowly turned his gaze to face Sai, the entire time his opponent winding himself up like a terrified clock-

"Boo," Sasuke stated simply, raising an eyebrow at the other. Shrieking, Sai stiffened and dropped to the floor in faint. His eyes _maybe _flickering in something akin to satisfaction but other than that face blank, Sasuke turned and began to walk in the way of the hospital. As he did so, his eyes flickered upwards towards Gaara, and the redhead stiffened beneath the cold, cruel gaze.

_This could've been you._

Then Sasuke's eyes found Naruto as he continued turning, and Naruto – strangely – felt relieved beneath that chillingly blank gaze as Sakura tensed beside him. Sighing, Naruto took a deep breath and allowed himself to release the railing. He recognized that look. He recognized that stance Sasuke now possessed, that aura. They were the ones he had adopted when he had fought Orochimaru and respite flooded Naruto's system as he realized he could finally _breathe again_.

_He's okay. He's okay now. This is the Sasuke I can trust._

Managing a weak smile, Naruto nodded down at the other, keeping eye contact with him.

With that, Sasuke turned his attention to Hayate, who visibly stiffened beneath the gaze of nothingness.

_A mere child should not have those eyes._

"I wouldn't waste my time counting to ten, if I were you," he told the proctor, who stared at him suspiciously. Without even looking at the man as he passed, Sasuke vanished down the dark hall. "He's not getting up for a while."

Dagina, miraculously awake now with Moira perched on her back, padded after him, unharmed. Hayate made sure to watch him leave before clearing his throat and looking back to the others.

"Sasuke Terranova… is the winner then," he proclaimed, eying Sai's unconscious, wet form. "And that concludes the preliminaries! Thank you everyone! Instructions for the next step will be given once everyone moving on has recovered from their injuries. Thank you for participating and for those who did not proceed to the next round, better luck next year! Have a good day!"

_Well, as good as you can, at any rate. _Kakashi thought from where he stood in the arena, eying the blood stains on the floor. _The janitors are going to have a hell of a time cleaning this shit up. _

Raising his eyes, he looked up to Zabuza, the look clearly stating that they were going to have a talk later.

Zabuza looked at him, knew what the other was saying, and completely ignored it, turning away from the arena and vanishing, obviously to go find his student. Kakashi simply stared at him from where he stood next to his unconscious student as medics entered the room to take him beneath their wing.

_What was that? _He asked himself, feeling like he had just brushed with the devil himself as he realized his entire body was completely numb. He was pretty sure somebody could prod him with a hot pick and he wouldn't even notice. _Sasuke, what ARE you?_

He found that he was getting very, very tired of asking himself that.

**End Chapter Twenty-Four: Master of Cruelties**

**Yeah, shit hit the fan pretty quick, huh? That's just how I roll, yo.**

**Enjoyed? Let me know. :3**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	48. Flashback Twenty-Four: Stench

**Hey gooooise. Long time no see huh?**

**So I totally had this super entertaining shpeal about why it's taken me so long to update, but then my internet decided to cack out right in the middle of me saving the revised version of this, and I hate writing things twice. So... yeah. This is whatcha get.**

**Sooooorry!**

**But I hope you enjoy. **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Four – Stench**

_Andora was an interesting and dangerous place, Sasuke was quick to realize. It seemed more like a shanty town than anything else, pieces of trash and debris pulled together to make barely-hanging-on apartments and homes for the ruffians that found solace in such a place. Patches of sheet metal and wood made up a large majority of the structures. If they were lucky, the toilet flushed and the public baths weren't packed full of people that hadn't showered in about a month. It was a village that had been created with no clear view of what it was to become in the future, and the streets were much like a maze, incredibly confusing and no clear flow from one portion of the city to another. On one street there would be open air food carts and clothing stores, and you turn one wrong corner and the bright, dirty lights of the red light district would blink appealingly at you as the whores called to you from the balconies above, waving their fans and scarves in the wind as they gazed down. The air was filthy with sewage and grime and too many people packed into too small of a space, and sometimes not even the swift mountain breeze could carry away the stench. _

_But there were untold riches in the city. Tycoons and assassins and drug lords that had taken refuge within Andora had poured their money into the areas they found the most appealing. While one street was falling apart, rust-covered and over-crowded, the next street down would be metaphorically dripping in gold and luxury. Preferably, Sasuke noticed, the whorehouses and the bars. The women leaning out of the windows had diamonds dangling from their ears as they cooed, and the finest silk that hung from their balconies curled into flowers and birds, the four-stories buildings made of strong, solid wood with guards standing at the doors. The bars were about the same level of security, with darkened windows and shady characters. Zabuza had made it very clear that he didn't want Haku or Sasuke going anywhere near those places. _

_Outside of those danger zones though, there was no escaping the constant threat. Vigilantes and villains and sinisters of all types lived in Andora, and there was always some sort of scuffle or another. The leaders of Andora had made one law of the land very clear though: disrupt the everyday workings of the village, put those in the village in danger, and whoever was responsible would be thrown back into the long arms of the very law everyone had been trying to escape from. _

_Cruel, but effective. Because of that very rule, Andora was actually a functioning, mostly productive member of outcast society. The fights were small, and the balances of power remained stable – for the most part. One could actually consider the village peaceful under the right circumstances and weather conditions. _

_Zabuza had managed to get a tiny little apartment (more like a hotel room than anything) with two small beds and a miniature kitchenette in the somewhat decent part of town. Tyra and her charge had gotten a place in the same building. At the very least, it didn't smell rank and Sasuke didn't feel like the floor was going to cave in at any moment. Prices were steep, but that was to be expected, seeing as how Andora got a large majority of its supplies through illegal trade and shadowy conquests._

_Zabuza had spoken of training and making good with Sasuke's bloodline, but the Terranova didn't see how that was possible. The battles he witnessed weren't even battles. Arm wrestles in comparison to what he had been expecting. He didn't see what good the Sharingan would do when the rules were so strict. _

_Besides, he didn't want to give anyone any hint as to who he was. Haku and Zabuza had readily accepted his decided last name, and though Haku had questioned its origin, Sasuke hadn't been able to give him a straight answer that wasn't full of lies, so he had simply shrugged. For the moment, they lived without fear of being hunted or caught. For a while they had another chance to be a weird, dysfunctional happy family like they had during the Land of Waves' fierce winters. It was lovely._

_But Sasuke's dreams still haunted him._

* * *

_**Hungry it was hungry it wanted food warmth strength no escape no escape power strength what it felt in its bones was powerful and undeniable it craved flesh it needed meat it wanted MEATMEATMEAT-**_

_Sasuke woke with a slight start, the beginnings of a scream dying in his throat as he recognized his surroundings. Haku breathed quietly and easily next to him, curled up onto his side and facing away from Sasuke, towards Zabuza who was sprawled across the other bed with mouth open in a loud snore. _

_**Why does this keep happening? **_

_Silently, he slipped out of bed and breezed out the door. They were in a relatively quiet section of the city, so he felt as safe as he could in a place like this walking out into the cool mountain air and making his way down to the first floor. _

_There was a courtyard that the apartments surrounded, a small, circular little thing that stood between the building and the sheer rock wall of the bowl the city sat in. The pathway was stone upon stone, and a single lonely tree stood off-center with a circular bench beside it. It was a quiet place – probably the only quiet place that existed in Andora, and Sasuke had appreciated it the instant he had discovered it. _

_When he walked into the light of the half-moon though, he realized somebody else knew this place existed too. _

_Tyra looked up from her hands at his approach, sitting on the circular bench with one knee up, foot pressed against her opposite leg's inner thigh as the other foot dangled. Her red hair glowed bloody silver in the light – like a blade that had just discovered a fresh, living torso._

"_Well," she began with a small smirk as Sasuke immediately looked around for the little girl but didn't see her. "What have we here?"_

**End Flashback Twenty-Four – Stench**

**Filler flashbacks. Uuuuuuuugh**

**Did you enjoy? Could you let me know? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	49. Aftershocks

**Man, the pressure one puts on themselves as a writer after writing something retardedly awesome. How the heck do you follow it? What can you possibly put down after such a great scene that will do that great scene justice? **

**I guess I just don't like settling dust. **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Aftershocks**

_I don't understand it. _Kakashi thought, musing from where he sat atop the Hokage faces. After many attempts throughout the week, he found that Zabuza and Sasuke had basically locked themselves up in the room both Inaré and Haku shared, refusing to come out though he had disguised himself a few(dozen) times and asked them nicely to come out, using over a dozen creative and logical reasons. He had even coerced (asked) Naruto into going to the door and knocking, but Sasuke had politely turned him down, saying that they would do Ramen later. _I need answers. This can't keep going on like this! _

He could handle not knowing certain things. Like if there was really a god or why there were those strange end pieces to a sliced loaf of bread one buys at the supermarket that no one seems to like. Or why there was always that one seedy bar open at nine in the morning every Tuesday. He didn't need to know everything. He had known people who had needed to know everything and they had gone systematically psychotic. If Kakashi was one thing, it was observant and able to learn from other people's mistakes.

Well, maybe two things.

But he couldn't handle not knowing how much danger Sasuke was actually in. How much danger they were all in. He had voiced his concerns to the Hokage and the man had readily agreed, but they couldn't take action against the boy. He had poised no clear threat to the village as a whole, and to strike even preemptively would declare war upon the Land of Waves. Sasuke was their prized student, and Kakashi could understand why. Just as he had been Konoha's pride before, he had found a new village to empower.

And nobody else knew it except Kakashi.

The Jounin thought about outing Sasuke. About revealing his secret to the council and demanding they take back what was rightfully Konoha's. Fuck the Land of Waves.

But he knew he couldn't do that. As soon as the idea occurred to him it had been dismissed. He loved Sasuke, and to break his word would send the skittish little creature back into the forest where Kakashi would never be able to locate him again. At least for now, he could keep tabs on the boy and make sure he wasn't in any danger.

Outside danger, at least. As for what was bubbling inside the Terranova's belly, Kakashi couldn't even begin to fathom.

For now, they could only send _extremely _covert spies in the direction of the Village Hidden in the Mist and hope to dig up some answers, but they would not return for at least a week, two if they actually happened to find something.

What had they caught a glimpse of that day during the preliminaries? Kakashi was still having a hard time putting his finger on it. A Tailed Beast? Maybe, but they had very specific ways of affecting their vessel when their Chakra seeped through the cracks and intermingled with their host's (as Naruto had shown), and Sasuke had displayed none of those quirks. When a host uses a Tailed Beast's Chakra, the host takes on some physical attributes of the Beast that is being caged. With Naruto, it was the Chakra formation of a single orange tail, the red eyes, and the pointed ears and sharp claws. And the temporary habit of running on all fours coupled with the fiercer temperament and deeper, rougher voice. The creature Sasuke had embodied was not of any sort of animal Kakashi had ever seen, but more like some kind of cruel and twisted mixture – like what would've been created if nature had vindictively sought to punish the world for its insolence. And had gruesomely succeeded.

The monster that had emerged from those pages was a warped image of reality, something out of a nightmare, and Kakashi never really believed that demons existed. Malicious spirits sure, assholes sure, but never _demons_ – creatures that spawned from the devil's own ribs and dragged themselves out of the seams of Hell's Gate to wreak havoc upon the living.

But maybe it was time to rethink that idea.

Everybody that had witnessed the fight had been adversely affected. Sai had awakened with only vague memories of the experience after he had dropped the book, but he still awoke to nightmares. Ino's father had reported her starting to sleepwalk, and Choji had resumed his bed-wetting problem, an issue that had been resolved when he was eight. Shino's bugs were nervous and jumpy. Kiba and Akamaru had newly-acquired insomnia, and Shikamaru had grown much more restless, unable to concentrate at simple strategy games that he would normally excel at. His father, who hadn't been able to beat Shikmaru at a game of Go since the boy was three, was suddenly trouncing the lazy genius left and right. And Kakashi _knew _that Sakura was having trouble sleeping. He could see it in the way she trained – how much slower she was in her movements and brain activity. He would have to repeat himself a couple of times before she finally understood what he was saying, and she would lightly doze off when he lectured on new techniques.

But Naruto seemed totally at peace. Sure he was disappointed that he wasn't interacting with Sasuke and sad that everyone else seemed to be having so many problems, but he himself was as bright and cheery as ever. He was even arriving early for training instead of his usual half-tardiness of Kakashi's usual tardiness. He seemed completely relaxed, maybe even bouncier than he was before, and Kakashi simply _had _to pull him aside one afternoon near the end of the first week to ask him about it.

"So, Naruto," he began, leaning against a tree as Naruto sat on the grass in front of him, smiling and at attention. The hot summer sun flashed blindingly off his wildly blonde hair, and his bronze skin soaked up the light greedily. "As you know, everybody who witnessed Sasuke's fight with Sai has been… affected in some way." He chose his term very, very carefully. "You don't seem any different at all though. In fact I think you even seem more… obnoxiously happy. Why?"

Naruto blinked up at him and then shrugged.

"I'm not sure, actually," he replied. "I suppose up until now, I've had a really big knot in my stomach. Like when that thing came out of the pages, I was pretty scared. I really thought I was going to die. But then that thing disappeared, and something else took its place." He smiled proudly. "You didn't see the way that Sasuke fought Orochimaru. It was awesome! He was completely in control, and he fought hand-in-hand with the guy! It was like they were perfectly matched! A legendary ninja and a genin! So cool!" He gazed at Kakashi with his big blue eyes. "He was totally calm. Completely in control of himself. I was so jealous of the way he moved." He shrugged again. "But then he wasn't like that when he fought Sai. He was stupid about the way he attacked. He didn't care if he got hurt. But then the Sasuke I had seen before came back, and I felt myself relax." The smile came back. "The Sasuke that had fought Orochimaru… that's a Sasuke that I can trust! I can just feel it. And knowing that he was still in there, even after that big scary thing came out… that was great. Knowing that he had been there the entire time, just waiting to come back when he was needed… that was even better." He leaned back, resting his weight on the palms of his hands and stretching his legs out as he looked up at his teacher. "So I'm a lot better now, because I know he's there keeping an eye on things. If that monster ever comes back out, he'll be there to stop it. So I'm not worried at all."

Kakashi had been baffled.

_Naruto… do you really have that much faith in one human being?_

Kakashi frowned from where he sat, staring up at the sky.

_I wish I shared your sentiments, Naruto._

_That would sure make everything a whole lot easier._

* * *

"Zabuza, we need to talk."

Zabuza rolled his eyes, wrapping a towel around his waist.

"The week of ignoring every other attempt you tried wasn't clue enough, Kakashi?" The man asked gruffly, not even turning to look at the other ninja. "I don't want to talk. We are not talking."

"We have to," Kakashi insisted, the hazy mist hanging around them and clinging to the mirror. "This is important, Zabuza. Ignoring the issue isn't just going to make this go away. You're not a rogue ninja anymore. You can't just turn tail and run like a coward-!"

"Sure, pissing me off is definitely the right way to go about things," Zabuza replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he moved past Kakashi into the living room/kitchen area. He and the other three had been given a small apartment to live in while they were in Konoha, and Kakashi had just been stalkerish enough to catch Zabuza on the tail end of a shower. Leaning down, he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "I said no, Kakashi. Now get out." Dismissing the Jounin then, he proceeded to drain the bottle and walk away. Kakashi felt his chest swell in fury.

"You're killing him, Zabuza!"

This made Zabuza stop short, and he turned to look back at Kakashi in irritation. Kakashi continued while he still had the other ninja's attention.

"You think that big fiasco at the Chunin exams is just going to blow over? That everybody is just going to 'forget' about that monster that crawled out of my student's book in place of yours and that almost tried to kill Sai? Everybody saw what Sasuke's hiding and everybody is suspicious of both him and your village. Whatever Sasuke is housing it's obvious he doesn't have the control over it that you _think _he does. He's _dangerous_, Zabuza. _It's _dangerous. And if my village believes it's threatened in absolutely any way the Anbu will _kill _Sasuke. You need to help him! Before this gets him hurt or even dead!"

This actually made Zabuza chuckle.

"You really think he can be dispatched? Just like that?" Zabuza replied quietly, turning his head to look at Kakashi and laughing softly. Then his voice got incredibly serious as he set his eyes in a threatening glare. "For all anyone knows, it was a Jutsu that got a little too out of hand. That's it. And I will drown _anyone _who says anything to the contrary, understand?!"

"Is that the lie you and Sasuke put together?" Kakashi snapped. "Some bullshit excuse for all the shit that went down? Sure, the kids might buy it, but the ninjas who actually know what the fuck they're talking about are _not _going to be convinced. Sasuke will be investigated, and whatever secret he's hiding _will _be uncovered. You have to save him before that happens."

"Why the fuck do you even care so much, Kakashi?!" Zabuza spat, his muscles rolling beneath his dark skin with nothing but a towel covering him. He bared his shark teeth at the other man. "You don't know me, you don't know my team – you don't even know Sasuke! He just shares a fucking name with some brat you _used _to train. They are _my _students. If there is an issue, then _I _will deal with it. It isn't your _fucking place_!"

Kakashi felt his gut roil in fury.

"_I do know him!" _He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. _"I do know him because YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME!" _

But he didn't. He didn't know what Zabuza would do if he knew the Jounin had found out (_probably take Sasuke far, far away to the ends of the earth where he would vanish forever)_, and so the gray-headed ninja kept silent. Instead, he took a deep, cleansing breath.

"Turning your head and coughing will not fix this," he stated simply. "If the people of this world don't crucify him for what he is, the beast inside him will." He turned away to the door. "I already lost my student. I don't want to see you lose yours."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the other man.

"How nice of you," he observed, almost suspiciously. Kakashi shot him a glare.

"I still hate you," he stated simply in explanation, even though he really didn't. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to take it out on some innocent kid. He isn't ready to take on the world, Zabuza." He turned his head to give the man one more fixed stare. "But the path you're allowing him to take will send him sailing headfirst into it."

With that, he left, and Zabuza gazed at where he had been standing for a long while before he finally moved, turning back into the bedroom to put some clothes on.

**End Chapter Twenty-Five – Aftershocks**

**Woo! The calm... after? the storm!**

**Please let me know if you thoroughly enjoyed. :) Or even slightly enjoyed. I'm good with either.**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	50. Flashback Twenty-Five: Scream

**Why greetings beezies. x3**

**I love you guys. Enjoy my love in the form of the words that you are about to hear. **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Five – Scream**

_Sasuke was hesitant as he gazed at the older woman. His instincts screamed that she was in cahoots with the blonde girl – he couldn't trust her, either of them – but his heart was so troubled and she was such a figure of neutrality. _

_Bloodthirsty, cruel neutrality. _

_He wondered how he knew that as he moved to silently sit a little ways from her on the bench – not right next to her, but not completely across from her either. He hadn't seen her battle, he hadn't really even spoken to her. But there was just something about her. Something about the way she walked and carried herself and-_

_Oh, and the battle axes she carted around didn't exactly help her case. _

_He realized that she reminded him a lot of Zabuza._

_**Hm. That explains a lot.**_

_Her weapons weren't with her, though he could still see the sheaths that held the machetes at her waist. Just like his father figure, she was never without a weapon. _

_An absurd picture of the two marrying in a chapel with her in a bright white dress and Zabuza in a black suit with doves and flowers flying everywhere and him addressing her as 'Mommy' popped into his mind, and he shuddered. Tyra raised an eyebrow at her._

"_Yes?" She asked expectantly. Sasuke pushed the ridiculous image from his mind and looked over at her, at her hands. _

"_What are you doing?" He asked. Tyra glanced down at her hands before raising them to show what she held – a small carving knife and a little block of wood that was slowly turning into the shape of-_

"_Making a voodoo doll," she replied before turning back to her careful work. Sasuke blinked._

"A _voodoo doll of who?" He asked. Tyra shrugged._

"_No one for now," she replied. "But when I find a person I __**do **__want to torture…" she raised her eyes and winked at him with a smirk. "I have one already premade."_

_Sasuke blinked in confusion._

"_I'm not quite sure that's how that works-"_

"_And I highly doubt you wrote the book on how to craft effective voodoo dolls," she interrupted pointedly, making Sasuke look away in defeat as she waved her knife at him. Looking back down, she continued to carve. "Besides, I highly doubt that's what you wanted to sit back and chat about. It's late. What're you doing up?"_

"_I could ask you the same thing," Sasuke replied with a small sneer. Tyra lifted her head and raised a no-nonsense eyebrow at him._

"_Don't you look at me in that tone of voice!" She scolded, making him blink in complete confusion before she dropped the expression and shrugged. "And I'm an adult. I can do what I want. Fine." Looking down, she resumed her voodoo doll shenanigans. "If you really don't want to talk about what's bothering you, we'll just sit here in silence."_

_**No that's not what I-**_

"_You know what happened with me in the mountains, don't you?"_

_There. It was out and the conversation had begun. She couldn't fucking __**bitch **__anymore-_

_Tyra stopped carving, raising her head to gaze at him as she leaned back to rest against the single tree._

"_I do," she stated simply. "How could I not?"_

"_But Haku and Zabuza don't know?"_

_Tyra gazed at him for a long, searching moment before shaking her head._

"_No." At his sigh of relief, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you afraid of them finding out?"_

"_Well, yeah," Sasuke admitted plainly. "Why wouldn't I be? Is that weird?"_

_Tyra pursed her lips for a moment, "I suppose not," she replied, turning her gaze upwards to the sky. "You're a kid. You're afraid of being judged."_

"_That's… part of it," the boy breathed, making her drop her eyes to look at him, but she didn't move her head from where she had lifted her chin. "But, also…" he shrugged. "I don't want them to be afraid of me. I don't want them to leave."_

_Tyra's response was accompanied by a nonchalant shrug, "but if they really love you, fear or not, they will continue to love you even if they know the truth. The truth is not something to be ashamed of. At least not this particular truth."_

"_But the truth is that I'm a monster," Sasuke breathed bitterly. "How could I not be ashamed of that?"_

_At this, Tyra shifted, setting both feet on the ground in front of her and leaning forward his direction, setting her elbows on her legs and interlacing her fingers as she gazed at him._

"_You can't be ashamed of what nature made you to be," she told him firmly as he raised his eyes to look at her. "You can't be ashamed of what your past made you to be. Those things were beyond your control. You didn't choose to have those things happen to you." When Sasuke looked away in sorrow, she raised an eyebrow at him. "What happened anyway? To make you so…" she shrugged as she tried to think of the word. "…__**damaged**__?"_

_Sasuke wanted to pour his soul out to her, but she was still a stranger. And he couldn't let her know who he really was._

_Who knew who she knew?_

"_When I was really young…" he began softly. "A… very good friend of mine did a horrible thing. We were practically brothers, and he would always visit and play games with me. But his dad was pretty mean, and he wanted nothing but the best. Perfection. And that meant a lot of pressure. My dad was practically the same way, so we understood each other. It was almost perfect. But then…" He kept his eyes to the ground as his eyelids seemed to become so heavy. "I came home one day from school, and…" His eyes began to burn, and he raised his hands and buried his face in them, leaving his mouth uncovered. "He had gone through every house on my street and killed everyone. My uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins, __**everyone**__, but-" he sucked in a breath, trying to steady himself and his breathing. Tyra didn't say anything as he collected himself. "But… my parents were still alive. I ran through my house and found them…" he swallowed. "I found them tied up in their room on the floor, and he was standing over them. As if he had been waiting for me." He looked away, opposite from Tyra, and gazed at the ground. "And he…" __"This is all for you, Sasuke…"__ "And he killed them right before my eyes. Just like that. Cut their heads off. And then he vanished into thin air." He shook his head. "I never… I never understood why he did it. I've had ideas, but I've never known for sure."_

"_Yeah, that's pretty horrible," Tyra replied finally, though Sasuke couldn't really hear any sort of sympathy in her voice. It was carefully, calmly neutral. It almost made him childishly, outrageously angry, but then he realized that it was a different, fresh emotion. It wasn't pity, which was what he was used to. It wasn't really anything. It was refreshing. And the fact that he thought that way confused him so completely. "Is that why you're so angry?"_

"_I guess," he replied with a shrug, finally lifting his head. "My mission became to destroy him. It's what I lived for. I had nothing else, and nothing else mattered. It was like…" he lifted a hand, resting it on his heart. "It was like there was a monster in my heart, eating me alive."_

_**That's what it was. I think I get it now.**_

"_And then what happened?"_

_Sasuke's shrug was tiny this time. "I found Haku and Zabuza. Well, more like they found me. They showed me something better than hatred. I don't want to die feeling angry. I don't want to be that person anymore."_

"_But you __**are **__that person," Tyra insisted, raising an eyebrow at him. "Ignoring it isn't going to make it magically disappear. This friend of yours… he obviously means more to you than you're pretending nowadays."_

"_I just keep thinking…" Sasuke breathed, looking at the rock wall in front of him. "What if he comes back? He already killed everything I ever loved once. I already failed to defend the people I care about once. What if I fail again? What if this never ends? What if this is what my life was meant for?"_

_Tyra, leaning back against the tree, gazed at him through one eye for a long moment before shrugging and tilting her chin up, resting her head against the tree and closing her eyes with her hand in her lap and foot pressed back up against her thigh. _

"_I suppose that's simple enough; next time, you don't fail." Dropping her chin a little, she looked at him through both eyes as she took the knife back to the wood again. "Or you could just die before they get killed so you don't have to __**see**__ yourself fail. You obviously care more about saving those two than you do about killing him. So save them. Fuck that guy."_

"_But what if he just keeps coming-?"_

"_Oh, kill him, by all means." Sasuke raised his eyes to look at her as she spoke this, and she leaned forward towards him again, her eyes intense. Her voice became like thunder in his ears. "When the time comes and he tries that shit again, slaughter him. Rip all of his limbs off – make him scream your name as he dies. But don't do it for the dead." Her stare was level and completely enraptured Sasuke with those red-orange eyes. "Do it for the living."_

_Sasuke gazed at her for a long while before a small smile crept onto his face, and he nodded._

"_Sounds like a plan," he agreed with a grin. _

**End Flashback Twenty-Five – Scream**

**Woo!**

**Yeah, Tyra's a badass. **

**Where is everyone? Is it summer yet? I don't think so... finals then?**

**Let me know you liked it? :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	51. Voices

**Heeeeey! :D**

**This chapter is pretty funky. But in a very 'me' way. :3**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Six – Voices**

Kakashi had all but given up at the end of the second week. They hadn't heard anything from the spies they had send out, and from what he could gather, Haku and Inaré were recovering as well as they could (at the very least, they weren't getting any worse), but Sasuke was still nowhere to be found. The Jounin ached to talk to the boy (at least if his teacher was blinded hopefully his student was not) but in the twelve days that had passed after the preliminaries, Sasuke had not left their room once. Kakashi was baffled. Again.

_I hate this. I seriously hate this. _

In hopes of easing his frustration, he hopped the walls of the village and wandered the surrounding forest, the afternoon sun streaming through the tall green trees. The entire time, he thought while trying not to think, and he could only sigh in exasperation and allow his mind to wander where it would, musing fruitlessly.

Not even his favorite _Icha Icha_ scenes came to mind anymore. All he could think about were Sasuke's _eyes_.

They had been clear blue-green, like the crystal clear waters of a perfectly calm ocean. No fury raged behind them, no joy, no shame. Behind them, there had been _nothing_, and that made Kakashi even more uneasy than when there had been too much.

Whatever was going on inside Sasuke, it most certainly had its extremes.

He felt lost. Not in the physical sense, but emotionally. Mentally. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to help Sasuke in any way he could, but Zabuza simply refused to acknowledge that there was any sort of issue, and there was _no one _the gray-headed ninja could go to for help. He felt alone, abandoned in his quest for righteousness. Sasuke wanted to be saved - the man knew that. Why else would he allow himself this new life and a new name? He wanted to love and be loved. But he couldn't do those things if he was _dead_.

Or a monster.

"…_should I do?"_

Kakashi stopped short, looking around as he could've sworn he heard a voice. It had been very faint – almost at the very edge of his hearing – and he spun in a slow circle as he looked around.

He was pretty far away from the village. He knew that but he didn't mind. It wasn't as if the village was difficult to lose track of. There were tiny little clue specifically for native ninja to use to find their way home. Did he have company way out here?

"…_hurt them all…"_

That voice again. He took another circle. It was so soft, and sounded so familiar – Kakashi _knew _that he had heard it recently. But he couldn't quite place where.

"…_**can't help it…"**_

A stronger, much heavier voice. It almost made Kakashi wince, but at the same time it intrigued him. It wasn't one that he had ever heard before, but he could've sworn he recognized the tone.

"…_**must control…"**_

He needed to find the origin of these voices. There was something strange and foreign but yet startlingly familiar about both of them. Silently, he traveled through the trees towards where he thought they were coming from, and came across an extremely thick brush. Shifting slightly, he moved a few leaves aside to peek through.

What he saw astonished him.

He had stumbled across one of the many rivers that ran through the land, something that ran quiet but deep, cutting silently through the trees on its long way to the ocean. In the golden orange rays of the slowly setting sun, Kakashi saw a massive sphere of water floating suspended over the river, circulating and shifting within itself as a tendril of water kept it connected to the actual flow, constantly exchanging the water in the bubble with fresh water from the river.

Like blood.

Suspended in the water lay Sasuke, seemingly naked but the details of his body hidden from view because even the very outline of his body seemed to blend in with the water around him – even his hair had lost its black color, now the gentle blue of the river. Effortlessly, he flowed and moved beneath the water, facing skyward but never tensing up or sharply shifting. He was fluid, one with the element as it coursed aimlessly around him. Eyes open (not even the details of his eyes could be seen, from what Kakashi could tell), he gazed emotionlessly upwards – as if his mind was asleep but his eyes were open. As if he floated through space.

_He's meditating. _Kakashi thought, cautiously sensing Sasuke's Chakra. The flow was slow, and almost lazy. _Has he been here this entire time? These past twelve days?_

"_I don't know what to do."_

Now he understood. That was Sasuke's voice that he had heard. But as he listened to it, he realized Sasuke's lips weren't moving. And even if they had, there was no way Kakashi would've been able to hear him through the water.

Then the Jounin realized something. Was he… was he hearing Sasuke in his _mind_?

_Okay. WEIRD._

"_**Wars are not won by apathy, little lion. Things will not change for the better if you simply refuse to make a decision. Fear fixes nothing."**_

That other voice again. It was blank, matter-of-fact, deep and rumbling. Like the voice of a great beast. It seemed to make the very air shiver. Looking around, Kakashi noticed that the very birds in the trees around them grew silent when that voice winded through the leaves.

Was that the voice of the monster within Sasuke? Kakashi found that hard to believe. This voice sounded so logical, so down to earth, and the monster that had emerged had been so… _wild_.

But then again, maybe this voice belonged to a wild beast monster too. Maybe they were one and the same. Sasuke seemed to close his eyes, lifting his chin upwards.

"_I almost hurt all of them. Almost killed Sai. A slip up like that hasn't happened in over a year."_

"_**Are you losing control?"**_

The question was simple and precise, and the power behind it made the bubble ripple throughout its massive girth. This great voice held no fear. It didn't leave room for side-stepping or ifs or buts or maybes. It was direct and commanded truth as the answer, with no wiggle-room for half-truths or partial lies. Immediately, Kakashi felt respect bubbling up.

_I could learn a lot from this thing._

"_No." _Sasuke's voice was firm, and his back seamlessly arched within the bubble as his hair flowed around him. _"I was stressed and angry. It was a fluke."_

"_**You cannot lose control every time you are angry or stressed," **_that other voice stated simply. _**"Your people will not accept that excuse so easily. Especially if you're allowed to take what you want. You will be crushed."**_

A troubled expression passed over Sasuke's face, though his eyes remained closed.

"_But how could I want that?" _He asked softly as he floated there. _"That's awful. It's nothing like me."_

"_**Perhaps it is nothing like the person you want to be," **_the great voice replied. _**"But that doesn't make it any less real. Any less you. You must accept that."**_

"_It's dangerous," _Sasuke argued, almost pleaded. The bubble rippled again, but this time from the opposite side. _"How can I accept something so cruel?"_

"_**Just like a creature of nature must forgive its imperfections and accept what it truly is, you must do the same," **_the other voice stated. _**"An eagle does not hate itself for hunting defenseless rabbits."**_

"_That would make me feel better if it were rabbits that I hunted," _Sasuke responded grimly.

Kakashi, absolutely fascinated, didn't notice the creature walking up behind him.

"Hey, Kakashi!"

The Jounin stiffened in shock, losing his balance and falling through the bush into the clearing of Sasuke and his bubble, completely giving himself away. He scowled at the ground against his face.

"Pakkun…" he growled, digging his fingers into the dirt. "What the hell do you want?!"

"_Oh!" _

Kakashi lifted his head to see Sasuke open his eyes and turn his head to look the Jounin's direction (even Sasuke's _eyes _had disappeared into the water), barely-there eyes going wide as he turned to be vertical within the bubble.

"Sasuke…" the man breathed, hastily pulling himself up as he gazed at the boy. There was something surreal and ghostly about the way Sasuke floated there, completely one with the water surrounding him. There was certainly _no _Jutsu that allowed something like that.

At least not one known to man.

"_Kakashi," _Sasuke replied, leaning forward to drift closer to the man and closer to the edge of his protective sphere. _"Why is it you that always seems to be the nosiest of everyone in the village?"_

"I'm not the nosiest, just the bravest," Kakashi responded nonchalantly as he stood, brushing himself off as Pakkun padded over next to him. "Everybody's wondering what on earth is going on with you." He eyed the sphere curiously. "And this getup certainly doesn't help."

"_You shouldn't have come here," _Sasuke stated simply, his hair floating around his face like seaweed. Kakashi found goosebumps crawl up his arms at the way Sasuke's mouth still didn't _move_. _"You shouldn't have seen this."_

"Sasuke, I'm worried about you," Kakashi replied simply – honestly. They were alone for the most part (_damned dog) _and there was no reason to be tactful about it. "I already lost you once. I don't want to lose you again. I'll do anything to help you. Please, tell me what's going on."

Those monochrome eyes seemed to soften, and Sasuke looked away, his hair shifting with the movement. After a moment, he closed his eyes.

"_I… can't, Kakashi," _he breathed. Kakashi had to fight from stamping his feet in exasperation.

"Why _not_?" He almost whined, fighting to control his temper. "Sasuke, you're not alone anymore. You have people who honestly care about you, who honestly want you to thrive. Isn't that what you've always wanted? You don't have to fight every battle by yourself anymore. You have people who will fight for you! Strong and brave people! Why are you so hell-bent on self destruction that you're going to deny them? Why are you so afraid?!"

This seemed to strike a chord within Sasuke, and he raised a hand to set it on a translucent chest as he looked away.

"_There is… something great and horrifying within me, Kakashi," _he murmured. _"I'm still not entirely sure what it is, but it is a pure, unaltered creature of desire. Everything it wants, it takes without thought. And that is terrifying." _Raising his head, he gave Kakashi a level stare. _"You can't help me fight myself. No one can."_

"But that's not it, is it?" Kakashi insisted quietly. "There's more to it than that. That voice that I heard just now… alongside yours… what is that?"

Sasuke suddenly seemed very unsure, and he looked away, unable to meet Kakashi's eyes.

"_That is… another piece…" _he slowly admitted before shaking his head. _"Kakashi, you shouldn't-"_

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Sasuke," Kakashi growled warningly as Pakkun looked on in absolute confusion. His voice was firm and relentless. "I don't care if I shouldn't. I want to. I can handle it. Now please _trust _me."

Sasuke gazed at him for a long moment, struggling with himself and everything he learned, before finally sighing.

"_All right," _he relented sorrowfully as he looked away. _"All right."_

Closing his eyes, he pushed himself forward, breaking the bubble's surface and pulling away from it. As he emerged, the color returned to his body, and the water transformed into the clothing he had been wearing before as the water dragged across his skin, the bubble getting smaller and smaller as he traveled further and further out.

Finally, he landed softly, fully clothed, on the ground next to the river, the remainder of the bubble splashing harmlessly into the current behind him.

But when he opened his eyes, they were that special, crystal clear blue-green shade.

"So," he began, setting his hand on his hip and raising his hand out towards Kakashi, palm up. Those eyes were sharp and dangerous, and suddenly Kakashi found himself wondering if he had made the right choice as that deep baritone voice took hold of Sasuke's teenager vocal chords – still Sasuke's voice but at the same time not so much anymore. "You wanted to speak with me?"

**End Chapter Twenty-Six – Voices**

**Ooooohmygooooodness!**

**You guys will thoroughly enjoy the next chapter. Seriously. It makes me giggle.**

**Do you want it sooner? If that's the case, you should review. :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	52. Flashback Twenty-Six: Silver

**Hey goise!**

**I really wish I could reply to anonymous reviews. Seriously. There's a lot of things I want to say to a specific one (most of them good, a few of them a little bit annoyed) and I don't want to just lay it all on here because then it makes it look like a bigger deal than it really is. **

**The reviewer loves the story. I know that and I am so grateful for it. But they said something that just kinda sharply poked at me, and I'm sure they didn't mean for me to take it like that. I love them for reviewing and I am so happy they like this piece I have invested so much of my time and love in. **

**But here's what I'm going to say. It is way too much work to move all of the flashbacks to a completely separate story. I would lose all of the amazing reviews people have posted for them if I were to delete them from this one only to repost them. I like having the flashbacks and the present together as one tale. Sometimes the flashbacks will be more interesting than the present, and vise versa. I understand that. But the two stories belong together, side by side. They are one, and they are both equally important. If you can't keep up with both of them at the same time, make a bloody flowchart. **

**At any rate though, that reviewer inspired me to give the flashbacks a little kick to keep things interesting. Lucky you guys. ;D**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Six – Silver**

"_This place is so boring," Sasuke complained as he and Haku walked down a street that had come to be known as the 'market', where all hours of the day saw open-air vendors selling goods of all sorts. Food, clothing, jewelry, even weapons. "What are we still doing here?"_

"_It's boring because it's safe, Sasuke," Haku explained patiently, having been very aware of Sasuke's growing restlessness. Every day that passed found Sasuke growing more and more irritable, more and more impatient. "We don't have to worry about being hunted here. We will stay until we figure out what to do next."_

_Though Zabuza found Sasuke's change of heart irritating (the man didn't have much patience for bullshit), Haku understood it. From the very beginning their lives together had been nothing but fear and running and suspense. The time in the woods during winter was a small reprieve, but they got through the lull by training and hunting. Here, there was no place for Sasuke to stretch his bones, so to speak, and he was getting antsy. He was training to be a killer, a warrior, and he could feel those instincts growing dull with lack of use, and it frightened him. Though the idea of security had been comforting at first, Sasuke was beginning to sense the weakness it instilled in human beings. _

_However strange it was, the boy __**missed**__ having to sleep with one eye open. _

"_You must be patient, Sasuke," Haku breathed soothingly to him, sliding his hand into the other boy's and holding his wicker shopping basket with the other. "We have enough money to last us quite a while, so we can take our time and plan ahead."_

_Sasuke merely pouted as they did their shopping._

* * *

_**Metal taste so good like iron good for the body good for the soul delicious and nutritious it couldn't stop it could never stop it wanted more MOREMORE-**_

_Sasuke awoke with a sharp intake of breath, and he panicked when he realized Haku wasn't next to him but then the panic immediately eased when he looked over to the other bed and saw the older boy was in bed with Zabuza. Silently, Sasuke ran through the conversation – closer to an argument really – that had taken place right before they had went to bed where he had demanded for them to stop treating him like a child and that he just wanted to __**sleep by himself for once**__-!_

_Of course, that hadn't been the real reason he had been upset. He knew it and he knew they knew it too. He had never complained about Haku sleeping in the same bed as him before. The dreams still pressed at the back of his eyes even when he was awake, and when he closed them those nightmares were automatically released from whatever shackles bound them and they were allowed to run rampant through his mind, tearing at the back of his eyelids and nesting in the corners of his brain. He was losing sleep, losing strength. He knew it and he knew it was affecting him. Haku always looked at him worriedly, and Zabuza always seemed to have a half-scowl of annoyance on his face whenever they interacted, and Sasuke knew he was just pushing them away when either one of them seemed to even get close to talking about it. _

_But he didn't know what do to do. He couldn't just __**tell**__ them. He had to think of a way to deal with this himself. _

_Quietly, he eased out of bed and sneaked out of the room they shared, down in the direction of the courtyard. The nights where that monster within his breast plagued him, Tyra always seemed to be awake and fiddling with some little trinket or another. She was an incredibly interesting woman, he had realized. They had only been talking for the past few days, but Sasuke already seemed to think of his interactions with her as some kind of solace. She was a vicious mystery – a double-edged sword that would kill you if you let it but in the meantime would slaughter countless foes. You never knew when the blade would be out for your blood, but every time you awoke with its loyalty still on your side, you sang for yourself and mourned for your enemies. That sword was not the type to bring death painlessly._

_But this time, she wasn't there. Sasuke paused, confused, but then he saw movement in the street out of the corner of his eye. Leaning backwards, he spotted a figure that he __**knew **__to be Tyra moving along the shadows, creeping through the quiet part of Andora as if on a mission. Fascinated, Sasuke was struck with an urge to follow her. _

_She took him through a small iron door, down heavy stone steps through a tunnel carved into the very bedrock beneath the village and through a second, circular stone door that seemed to be a safe. _

_**I shouldn't be doing this. **__He realized, pausing mid-step. __**I should just go back. This is crazy.**_

_Go back to what? Another sleepless night with no company, no hope? Back to dull and boring regularity? A thirst for excitement pushed him forward, through the massive door after her. _

_As she passed through, her stride lengthened and the need for stealth seemed to vanish, her back straightening and her shoulders rolling. A smirk on her face that Sasuke couldn't see, she made short work of the few stairs in front of her and continued on. _

_A roar of a crowd met Sasuke's ears as the door swung shut behind him, and his gaze widened as he absorbed the sight before him._

_It was an underground fighting ring. That was the only thing he could think of as he drank in the screaming, cheering crowd that surrounded the circular stage in the middle of the not-so-large room, the ring surrounded on all sides by an iron cage. People walked through the crowd yelling and collecting money and scribbling numbers down and sprinting back to the stone booth along the right-hand wall, where unseen accountants racked up the numbers. _

_Sasuke suddenly released that he was probably far, far too in over his head for this kind of thing, but he had gone too far to turn back now. The excitement of the crowd was overwhelming, and he could feel the hum of the air seep into his bones as he watched the fighters exchange blow for blow, holding nothing back._

_**This is it. **__He realized as he watched them move. __**This is the place. This is what I needed to find. **_

_Looking around, he no longer saw Tyra (hard to believe, due to her height and shockingly-colored hair) but he could feel the danger in the air. The rules above ground did not apply here. He knew it just by walking in. Until he knew more, he had to stay back. _

_Even though he __**itched**__ to get into that ring and pummel the ever-loving SHIT out of someone-_

"_Wasn't that fantastic, ladies and gentlemen? A lot of blood and a lot of gore – that's what we like to see!"_

_**What the hell? **__Sasuke asked silently in awe as the loser was rolled out of the ring and the winner went to gather his earnings. The announcer, standing in a little outcropping in the stands near the cage, swung his hand._

"_And now! Up next! At seven feet tall and able to eat double the weight of your favorite whore, he has killed over a dozen men; a shocking combatant that rolls over his opponents like a rockslide! He's big, he's angry, and he's out for blood tonight my spectators! Give it up for the BOULDER OF TERROOOOOOOOR!"_

_A massive bald-headed man that had to weigh at least six hundred pounds stepped into the ring, the very rock beneath his feet seeming to shake as he roared in challenge, nothing but a thick loincloth covering him as he lumbered into the cage. The crowd cheered wildly as he waved his gargantuan arms._

_**Oh my God! **__Sasuke thought in shock. __**How does someone let themselves get THAT BIG?**_

"_And his opponent! A feisty little destroyer who has recently crawled out of the woodwork that has all of the crazy and none of the calm! The master of disaster, destruction on two loooong legs, violence personified, proof that the south has a bite much, much worse than its bark – welcome to the ring ASMODEA THE GODSLAYEEEEEEER!" _

_**Asmo-who? **__Sasuke thought in confusion as the crowd cheered – not as much as for the Boulder – but still a good amount. _

_Suddenly he saw Tyra step into the ring, her battleaxes nowhere to be found and the machetes usually at her hips nowhere in sight. Her expression was completely calm – maybe even a little bit amused – as the Boulder towered above her. The differences in stature were astounding. She was tall, sure, but he was **huge**._

"_So you know the rules people! Bare-fist cage match until one of the fighters is not able to continue! Winner take all! The bloodier the better, right everybody?" _

_The crowd cheered violently, jumping up and down as they pressed against the railing, the ones at the very front almost in touching distance of the cage if they stretched their arms out. _

_Creaking ominously, the door to the cage swung shut and locked behind Tyra as she gazed at her opponent with easy, nonchalant eyes. Boulder glared at her, baring his teeth and stomping his feet. Fear instilled itself within Sasuke's breast as he watched. _

_**If she manages to pull this off it could be a miracle. **__He thought. __**That guy could eat her for breakfast!**_

"_Now, fighters!" The announcer raised his hand, then swung it downwards as a bell rang. "BEGIN!"_

**End Flashback Twenty-Six – Silver**

**Woo! **

**Wow. I think that has been the longest author's note I've ever written since picking this story back up. Wow. **

**It only gets better from here, ladies and gentlemen. *heart***

**Please review? :3**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	53. Refracted Truths

**Dammit. **

**Sometimes, I hate the back button.**

**I had a lot of fun writing this. It made me laugh. A lot.**

**I hope you like it too. :)**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – Refracted Truths**

For a moment, Kakashi didn't know what to say as he stared at this creature before him that had stolen Sasuke's face, feeling very awkward and very vulnerable.

_This was a mistake. This was the biggest, fattest fucking mistake I've ever made in my entire fucking useless life-_

_But this is your chance!_

"Uh… yes," he replied, knowing that it wanted an answer as it gazed at him expressionlessly. He struggled to begin. "What… what are you?"

Those crystal eyes blinked at him blankly for a moment before he shrugged.

"Complicated," he stated simply, nodding as he raised his eyes to look back up at Kakashi. "Yourself?"

"That's not what I asked you," Kakashi huffed in irritation. Sasuke's face was not shaken.

"That is exactly what you asked me," he responded, blinking innocently. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"You knew what I meant."

Sasuke shook his head as he replied, "not necessarily. You know what you meant. But how could I possibly know for sure?"

Fighting an exasperated sigh, Kakashi ran his hands through his hair.

_It's okay, Kakashi. It's okay. You're talking to it. That's a start._

"Okay," he breathed as he thought. "Boy or girl?"

Sasuke cocked his head at Kakashi and blinked at him with a monotonous face.

"Neither."

Kakashi scowled.

"Male or fucking female?!" He spat angrily, steaming. The first semblance of expression passed over Sasuke's face as one eyebrow arched upwards just the littlest bit and the corner of his mouth quirked up.

_Finally. He's getting it._

"Male," he stated, nodding as he crossed his arms. Kakashi felt himself encouraged the littlest bit.

"Are you a demon?"

"No," Sasuke just _almost _snapped, giving Kakashi a barely-there scowl. "I am above such things."

"So what are you called?" _We're getting somewhere. It's okay Kakashi. We're getting somewhere. _"Are you the thing that came out of the book?"

Sasuke shrugged. The power that radiated off him was unfathomable, and Kakashi wondered as to how he could be so brave (or stupid) as to get mad at this creature that might as well be a deity. His movements were small, but they were fluid and smooth. There were no sharp jerks or sudden shifts in posture. Everything was perfectly controlled and perfectly logical. No movement was wasted or without purpose. Power rolled within those shoulders.

"I am one of the things that came out of the book," Sasuke replied as he gazed at the other man with those striking eyes. "So yes. And I am called many things."

"You know what I mean!" Kakashi huffed again. _This is fucking ridiculous! _Sasuke rolled his eyes languidly, and even that motion seemed without any feeling whatsoever. Like he was simply going through the motions because they were things he knew Kakashi was familiar with and would find comfort in.

"It's your fault I'm answering this way," he explained patiently. "Vague questions will always receive vague answers. You must be precise."

_Like he is. _Kakashi realized, remembering what Naruto had said. _You have to think like him. _

But he didn't know the first thing about the creature he was talking to. How could he possibly know how it thought?

"Are you some sort of beast?" He asked. Sasuke raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Do I look like a beast?" He asked. Kakashi almost howled.

"This is why you agreed to talk to me, isn't it?" He demanded with a seething glare. "This is why you said yes. Because you _knew _you wouldn't tell me anything I wanted to hear!"

Sasuke merely looked at him without an ounce of expression on his face.

"I can't tell if you're actually asking me a question or not," he responded blankly after a moment, seeming to be paying more attention to Kakashi's tone than what he was actually saying. Kakashi slapped a hand to his face and fought to control himself.

"Why are you in the kid's body, anyway?" Pakkun finally chimed in, making Sasuke look down at him. "And better yet, how is he still alive? So much power would tear a normal person apart."

"I am in this body because I was placed here," Sasuke replied. "Sasuke is still alive because I am not at full strength. And yes, I suppose he isn't exactly what you would define as 'normal', is he?"

"So you're not a Tailed Beast?" Kakashi reiterated. "You're not one of the nine great spirits that inhabit these lands?"

Sasuke gazed at him for a long moment before replying.

"No, I am not one of the nine," he stated, making Kakashi sigh in relief. "I am the tenth."

Just before Kakashi could do something horrifically violent and absolutely out of character in his rage, Sasuke looked over his shoulder towards the sun.

"Kakashi Hatake, it is getting dark," he commented before looking back to the man. "We should head back to the village. Would you care to keep talking while we do so?"

Without waiting for an answer, he moved past Kakashi and Pakkun and started into the trees. Kakashi, grumbling, went after him.

"How on earth does Sasuke put up with the way you communicate?" Kakashi grumbled as they headed back to the village. Sasuke's eyes flickered up to him before he looked back to the front.

"He learned," the creature replied simply without looking over his shoulder, making Kakashi grumble. Then after a moment, "he doesn't. I don't speak to him in this fashion." This made the Jounin scowl at him. Without returning the look, Sasuke continued. "I suppose I should ask for your forgiveness. I don't interact with others. Ever. And the boy and I have been together for a while. He is quite adaptable, and I am out of practice."

"How long?" Kakashi asked, a little intrigued. Maybe _now _they were getting somewhere.

"Is my penis? Incredibly," was the nonchalant reply. Kakashi blinked at him dumbly, and Sasuke looked over at him before shrugging. There was no amusement. No enjoyment. Only nothing. "A little too out of character? I figured. Just reiterating the need to clarify." Before Kakashi should snap something completely obscene in irritation, Sasuke continued. "Over two years. We came together when he was twelve."

"That must've been interesting," Kakashi murmured, mostly to himself as he found his brain uncontrollably wandering back to the penis comment.

"I don't believe I understand that comment," Sasuke observed, glancing upwards at Kakashi before looking forward again. "Well, I understand what it means. I simply don't understand why you said it."

"You seem very… calm," Kakashi observed in return, looking down at him. "That seems to be your thing. Do you just have that much control over your emotions?"

"What emotions?"

There they paused, and Sasuke simply looked up at Kakashi with emotionless, monochromatic eyes. Such beautiful eyes held such mystery… and yet such emptiness.

"What do you mean, 'what emotions'?" Kakashi asked disbelievingly. "You do know what those are, right?"

"Of course I do. I'm not an idiot," Sasuke replied with a single raised eyebrow. "But I am not burdened by them."

"You mean your emotions don't bother you?"

"No. I mean I don't have any."

_Wow. THAT EXPLAINS A LOT._

"What do you mean you don't have any?" Kakashi insisted. "How could you not have any? Everybody has them! Dogs have them. Birds. INSECTS- well, maybe not insects, but…" Quietly, he mused over this as Sasuke looked down to the ground.

"I was… made," he admitted quietly, making Kakashi look at him. Those eyes made Kakashi want to call bluff on the creature's claim, but even then there was something so… artificial about the expression that made Kakashi itch to hit him. "...from the fractured pieces of a dead god that the priests of the Lands of Waves had kept hidden from the world for hundreds of years. Finally, they managed a way to piece them together and breathe life back into them, but…" Lifting a hand, he gazed at his palm. "I am… a machine. A creation. Trying to give me emotions would be like trying to give them to your toaster. A very powerful toaster, but still. A toaster. It was beyond their power, and thus I awoke with nothing."

"I've seen some," Kakashi argued, refusing to believe that something so lifeless could be standing in front of him in a body that pulsed with existence. "They're small, but they're there."

"They're also borrowed," the creature replied, with an eye roll that seemed a little bit more genuine but not completely. "When you exist alongside someone as saturated with life as the boy, you tend to learn a few things. But it's only mimicry. It's not actual feeling."

"Do you wish you had feelings?" Kakashi asked, almost earnestly. Sasuke gazed at him for a moment and shook his head.

"No," he stated honestly – it had to be honestly. Why reason did he have to lie? "I've seen what emotion does. How it twists good people and makes decent human beings do terrible things. Without them, you are completely neutral. Totally unbiased. Everything you see is crystal clear. You don't see anything that's not actually there, and you aren't blind to anything that is. You know everything. You are whole."

"How whole could you actually be though?" Kakashi pressed. "I mean, you'll always be alone. You'll never be close to anybody or anything. You'll never experience the joys of the world…" Sasuke lifted his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the man.

"If you're asking me if I'm _sad _that I have no emotions, that seems like quite the oxymoronic statement," he commented dryly, making Kakashi acknowledge his accuracy with a shrug.

"So what are you doing in Sasuke's body?" The gray-headed man asked as they kept walking. "And if you're not the thing we saw at the Chunin exams, then what are you?"

"I was Sasuke's way out," the creature replied simply, sliding his hands into his pockets and hooking his thumb on the outside of the fabric – a motion Kakashi recognized as something Sasuke used to do before he was taken. "Or more rather his way _in_. That was the arrangement. He takes me unto his body, and he and the other two are forgiven for their crimes and accepted into the Land of Waves."

"Haku and Zabuza? Traitors for years? Murderers of countless ninjas? Forgiven? Just like that?" Kakashi asked disbelievingly. "No way."

"Mostly way," Sasuke breathed quietly with a nonchalant shrug. "I was not an easy creature to find a vessel for. I was too powerful for all of the people they had tried previously. A lot of exploding chests and bursting heads. They had just recently found a solution when Sasuke came along. He was their genie pig. And if it worked they were going to have the ultimate weapon at their disposal. It wasn't exactly a bad deal, I suppose."

"And what was the solution?" Kakashi asked. They were nearing the village now, and Kakashi just _knew _his window was rapidly shrinking.

"They split up my power," Sasuke replied. "What exists inside the boy is only a fraction of the potential I actually have. Nothing compared to the true god of legend, but…" he shrugged. "There's no real way of competing with something like that, I suppose."

"I'm sure you're as close as one could get, if you're telling the truth," Kakashi commented. Sasuke glanced at him – one could say almost sharply.

"You think I am lying?" He asked. "Or merely over exaggerating?"

Kakashi gazed at him for a long moment before sighing.

"I don't know what I think right now," he admitted, searching the trees that surrounded them. Looking back over at the other, he gave him a sharp look. "But where do you stand? Are you on Sasuke's side?"

"I am on no side except my own," Sasuke replied simply. It was then Kakashi realized the true danger of the creature he spoke to. No emotions meant no conscience. No emotions meant the beast never had a reason to hold back. "If that means being on the boy's side for the time being, then so be it. I must protect my host. But…" Lifting his eyes, he gave Kakashi a very even stare. Those eyes, though they held nothing, were sharp in their lack thereof. There was no natural human softness to his gaze, no sign of empathy or concern. Only logic, only knowledge. "If you're meaning the monster that emerged before your eyes, I'll have you know this…" That stare seemed to harden in its intensity. "If I had not stepped in, that beast would've killed that brat, you, and every single other person in that room. And then it would've moved on to level the village and rain down sulfur and blood upon the populace. You are very, very lucky that I exist."

"So you and the monster aren't the same thing," Kakashi stated firmly, finally subtly asking the question that had been running through his head since they had started talking. The creature gave him a very level stare before shaking his head.

"No," he answered simply before turning away. "Sasuke and I are not the same thing."

With that, he vanished in a whirl of wind, leaving Kakashi staring solemnly at the place he had once been.

Sadly, the interaction had only raised more questions than answers.

**End Chapter Twenty-Seven – Refracted Truths**

**Woohoo! So we finally get to meet the big mystery fella...**

**But what's his name? Who is he? Where does he come from? Is his penis really that big? All these questions will be answered (eventually) in time in this super awesome story. **

**Did you like it? I would love it if you told me so. :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	54. Flashback Twenty-Seven: Sight

**Just wrote this up, woot!**

**So I have made a decision. A decision that I think is going to make everybody very happy.**

**But you won't find out what it is till next update HA!**

**Much love! Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Seven – Sight**

_The fight was over absurdly, incredibly quickly. _

_As Boulder raised a great arm upwards and curled his fingers into a tight fist, Sasuke saw Tyra's lips pull into a twisted smile. She crouched as if to jump._

_Then, suddenly, she vanished in a blur of color, reappearing behind the Boulder in the same position. The Boulder paused in his assault, blinking in confusion as his prey disappeared right before his eyes._

_As Tyra shifted up into a standing position, a jettison of blood sprayed out of the side of the Boulder's neck, coating the crowd on his left hand side as he stumbled to the right, collapsing against the bars of the cage. _

_Creaking, the bars bent grossly outwards then snapped as one, the Boulder's limp body smashing into the stands as the audience ducked out of the way to keep themselves from being crushed. Sasuke blinked in awe._

_**Wow. She didn't even need her weapons.**_

_Tyra's left hand dripped in blood from the wrist down, a large majority of the liquid coating the limb's left hand side. A chunk of flesh lingered beneath her pinky nail. Her eyes sharp, she raised the hand to her mouth and slowly licked the outside of her hand, from wrist to pinky nail. _

_The announcer blinked in shock for a moment before he remembered that he had a job to do and raised the microphone to his lips._

"_Amazing, ladies and gentlemen! Absolutely amazing! I'm pretty sure that's a new record here in these parts! Is there anybody courageous and stupid enough to challenge this new and upcoming star? Let them come forth and challenge her! There are more bets to be made!" _

_**I would. **__Sasuke immediately thought. __**But I'd get killed. I'm too young. I don't know enough. **__He frowned. __**Besides, Zabuza would kill me.**_

_As the body was carted off with great difficulty, Tyra scanned the crowd – half in excitement and half in challenge – and doing nothing to wipe the blood off her body. Was it just Sasuke's imagination, or did her hair seem a fiercer red now than compared to before the battle? There were murmurs in the crowd as people looked at each other and waited for an idiot to come forward. _

"_I do believe I shall."_

_A man in a bowler hat and faded gray suit and tie stepped forward, his brown mustache curled at the edges. He smiled pleasantly, taking off the checkered hat and bowing to Tyra._

"_My lady, such beauty goes to waste in such a dreary place like this," he told her as the crowd went silent, his round wire-framed glasses flashing in the light. He was a little bit of a pudgy fellow, with carefully groomed beard and mustache and amused demeanor. Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing. "But at the same time, I would rather see such frightening strength wrought upon the mongrels down below the surface instead of those above in the sunlight." He motioned to her in a sweeping gesture before replacing the hat, a cane hooked over the inside of his other elbow. "So you have my thanks."_

_Tyra's lips quirked up at the edges, and she raised an eyebrow at him._

"_And yet, if these creatures are so below you, why are you among them?" She asked curiously._

"_I am here on vacation, my lady," the man replied simply. "On vacation, mongrel and royalty are the same to me."_

"_And we have a challenger ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer cried, walking over to the man as the crowd cheered. "What is your name, good sir?" _

"_My name is Mr. Knife," the man responded as he stepped into the ring in front of Tyra. He smiled, eyes on her. "But you may call me Jack."_

_With that, he reached into the sleeve of his suit, pulling out a wicked blade of gold and silver metals that curved wickedly at the tips, flashing wildly in the light as the twin blades conjoined at the same hilt. All doubt of the man's abilities vanished from Sasuke's mind at the sight. One didn't cart around a weapon like that without knowing how to wield it. _

"_Shall we?" Jack asked Tyra pleasantly as the broken cage lifted itself away from the ring. She gazed at his weapon, laughed, and kneeled, reaching into her boot._

"_So we are to cross swords, are we?" She asked in amusement as she did so. "Mine isn't so fancy, but…" Pulling a long, angry machete out of her boot, she twirled it in her fingers and pointed it at Jack. "I'm sure it can cut you open just as easy."_

_**She was armed the whole time. **__Sasuke thought – almost in relief. __**Of course.**_

"_I am not worried about the easiness of the matter," Jack stated with a small smile. "If I thought defeating you would be simple, I wouldn't have wasted my time with you."_

"_Beautiful," Tyra breathed, her eyes alight. "We are in agreement then."_

"_Indeed."_

"_It looks like we have a fight on our hands ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer exclaimed as the crowd continued to yell out bets and money exchanged hands. "Looks like the combatants have agreed to the terms! LET'S HAVE A KNIFE FIGHT!" _

_The crowd cheered, and Sasuke watched in awe as the match began._

* * *

"_Did you enjoy that, you little spy?"_

_Sasuke let out a small gasp as Tyra appeared in front of him, his eyes flickering back into black as he looked away. Reaching down, Tyra hefted him up by the arm and roughly shoved him out the door._

"_I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" Sasuke exclaimed as she continued to push him forward, making him stumble repeatedly as he fought to keep with her pace. "This place is boring! I followed you because I needed to! I-!"_

"_You're lucky nobody saw you, you idiot child!" Tyra hissed into his ear, gripping his upper arm and yanking him to her, pulling him up so she could lower her voice. "What were you thinking, with the eyes you have?"_

_With a huff, she released him, and Sasuke blinked at her in shock as she strode past him. The streets were quiet with the night still resting heavily upon the land._

"_How did you know about my eyes?" He asked quietly, making Tyra turn to look at him. "Does that mean you've known who I am? All this time?"_

_Tyra gazed at him for a long moment before sighing and walking back over to him. _

"_You awoke because of Molly," she offered in explanation. She shrugged at him, turning to walk away again. "There isn't much I don't know about you anymore."_

_This made Sasuke feel incredibly, exceptionally vulnerable. _

"_That's not fair!" He exclaimed, chasing after her. "It's stupid that you know everything about me and I know nothing about you!"_

"_The world isn't fair, Sasuke," she stated dismissively. _

"_That's not an excuse!" He hissed. "Why is that everybody's fallback for not telling me stuff?!"_

_Tyra gazed at him for a moment as they kept walking. Sighing, she shook her head and stuck her hands in her pockets._

"_My name is Tyra," she began simply, making Sasuke look up at her. "My charge's name is Molly. We are traveling to learn about the world. I was an only child. My mother died when I was young and my father abandoned me soon after. After he left, suffering and pain were the only things I knew. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to still get up each morning."_

_Sasuke blinked at her, his curiosity officially perked._

"_Why did he leave you?" He asked. "He loved you, didn't he?"_

"_He said he did," Tyra replied softly as they drew nearer and nearer to the apartment complex. For the first time, Sasuke saw true emotion in her eyes as they darkened. "He told me that he was leaving to find us a better life, and to take care of things until he got back. He promised to come back, but…" she shrugged helplessly. "He didn't. He never returned. Everybody has told me that he's probably dead by now, but I don't believe that. My father… wasn't the type to just keel over and perish. He's out there somewhere. I'll find him. And I'll figure out what his problem was. Because for the life of me I can't figure out what I did wrong to make him leave."_

"_Maybe it wasn't you," Sasuke suggested, making Tyra raise an eyebrow at him. "Maybe it was him."_

_Tyra let out a bitter laugh._

"_I doubt it," she breathed, looking away. "He was perfect." Her eyes shone in sadness as her voice lowered to just a whisper. "He was beautiful."_

_That struck Sasuke as a very, very odd thing to say, and as he raised an eyebrow at her paired with wide eyes she shook her head and thus the expression from her face._

"_Anyway, that doesn't matter," she stated. "What matters is that you were a very bad boy and followed me to a place you shouldn't have. You can't do that again."_

"_Please, Tyra," Sasuke begged. "The only reason Haku and Zabuza brought me here was so that I could learn more techniques! But this place is so boring that's impossible! The underground is where I need to be! That will make this place worth it! Please, I have to keep going with you! If I'm with you they won't hurt me."_

"_You are __**not **__my responsibility," Tyra snapped in irritation as they stopped in front of the complex. "If you're so bored out of your mind that you start bleeding from the eyeballs that is not my problem-!"_

"_I'm sure Molly would disagree with you," Sasuke hissed coldly, making Tyra's jaw snap shut as she glared at him. "You woke up this monster within me. So yeah, it __**is **__your problem!"_

_Tyra was silent as she gazed angrily at him. _

"_Fine," she snarled, making Sasuke bite back a cheer. "But we're going to have to get you something to keep you a secret. Especially those eyes of yours." Eagerly, Sasuke nodded, and Tyra sighed in exasperation. "Be out here at two am tomorrow night and we'll get started."_

"_Yes ma'am!" Sasuke replied cheerfully, saluting as Tyra rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning away as he hopped off to his room. Sighing, she raised a hand to her face and ran her fingers through her hair._

"_Oh, great Warrior, what have I done?" She breathed softly as the dawn began to break._

**End Flashback Twenty-Seven – Sight**

**Is Jack Knife dead? Who knows?**

**But let's just assume that Tyra won the match. **

**Super-duper exciting stuff to be had in the next flashback! I promise!**

**But until then, onto present time!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	55. Don't You Fake It

**I'm so happy all of you are liking Sasuke's Tenant. That'll be his name from now on until his actual name is revealed!**

**Onwards!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – Don't You Fake It**

Kakashi blearily opened his eyes to see jumbled words and muffled letters before him. Groaning, he picked his head up and slouched heavily in his chair, head rolling along its socket in exhaustion as he made no attempt to support the heavy piece of machinery.

Nothing. He had spent the last twenty-four hours researching and digging up any information he could get involving any possible myths of gods of the Land of Waves or priests tangling with broken pieces of myths of gods, but had found nothing. Not even a scrap something that could be considered anything. With a sigh, he rolled his shoulders and head simultaneously, stretching the muscles in his aching body with distaste.

"Maybe I'll just cancel training for today…" he muttered as he dragged his ass into the bathroom. "Everything huuuuuuurts."'

* * *

On his way to the training spot, Kakashi noticed a very familiar tuft of bright yellow hair emerge from a very familiar ramen stand, and he was just about to languidly raise an arm and call out when another head peeked out after.

Kakashi dropped his arm and simply watched Sasuke and Naruto chat post-meal in the street, both of them with bright smiles on their faces and probably incredibly full bellies. Sasuke's hair was down, shiny and black and luxurious with his headband gleaming at his hips. Naruto had ditched his orange jumpsuit top for the occasion, and simply wore the pants with a skintight black mesh shirt – the type he wore beneath the jacket.

How weird it looked, the two together. Like a couple, Kakashi realized in utter confusion. But at the same time, it was so natural. Like they had been going out for ramen together every Tuesday afternoon at the same stand for the past ten years, taking turns picking up the tab and flirting with the owner's daughter. Like they belonged together.

In awe, Kakashi simply stood and witnessed them talk cheerfully a little bit more, noticing how they stood a little closer than was probably necessary, touched each other's shoulders here and there – watched how Sasuke giggled and Naruto laughed.

Was that jealousy bubbling up in his belly?

_Kakashi, you moron. _

Soon enough though, they said their goodbyes and Naruto turned and headed off in the direction of the training grounds – the same direction that Kakashi was facing. Sasuke waved after him, but then turned to stride casually in the Jounin's direction, a slight smile on his face as he slid his hands into his pockets and hooked his thumbs on the edges.

_Leave, Kakashi. _The man told himself. _You have a team to train. Just go._

But he couldn't. Silently, he waited until Sasuke looked up, made eye contact with him, and smiled, waving at him.

"Good afternoon, Kakashi-sensei!" He called cheerfully through the crowd as he neared, waving a hand up high before putting it back in his pocket. "No training today? Naruto didn't seem too wiped out when we were eating."

Kakashi waited until Sasuke had reached him and they had fallen into stride with each other before speaking.

"So, you don't have emotions, but faking them is just fine?" Kakashi asked coolly, making Sasuke look up at him in confusion and just a little bit of hurt with those big black eyes. For a moment Kakashi doubted himself, but then he pressed forward because he knew, he _knew-_ "Did Sasuke give you permission to sabotage his Ramen date with Naruto?"

Sasuke's gaze towards the Jounin turned sharp for a moment before he sighed and blinked, turning his face away in defeat before looking back up at Kakashi. The ink that had filled his eyes spiraled away into the pupils, leaving the crystal pale green-blue color in its place as the persona completely vanished.

"Interesting for someone who hasn't seen the boy in four years to still know every single one of his habits by heart," the creature commented dryly, hands still in his pockets as he looked away. "Some people may consider that a bit creepy, Kakashi Hatake."

"Creepiness doesn't matter, results do," Kakashi replied – maybe a little bit defensively. "Sasuke doesn't put his hands in his pockets like that anymore. Not in all the times I've seen him at the exams. He used to when he was younger, but not anymore."

"And why do you think that is?" The boy asked, looking at Kakashi with a raised albeit disinterested eyebrow – as if he already knew the answer but was just checking to see how good Kakashi was. The Jounin frowned.

"Putting your hands in your pockets means letting your guard down," he stated. "It means you feel no fear. That you could be potentially be caught off guard. And he doesn't like that."

"But you are incredibly afraid, Kakashi Hatake," the beast replied smoothly – maybe even with a slight smile. "Terrified, even. Like a wee little rabbit. And yet your hands go into your pockets all the time. Why is that?" Tilting his head back, he raised his chin so he could look up at Kakashi through half-lidded eyes. "Are you that arrogant? Or are you simply waiting for the right person to come along and strike you down when you plead for it the most?"

The words, spoken so plainly and with such abandon for empathy, caught Kakashi off guard and cut deeply. So sharp and so painful, _and maybe so, so true_, that he couldn't keep eye contact with the creature. Silently, he looked away.

And realized with insane irritation that his hands were in his pockets, a thumb on one of the many _Icha Icha _novels he always had on hand and the other on one of his many kunai.

He had lost that battle. Utterly and completely.

"So why were you having lunch with Naruto anyway?" He asked as they continued to move through the crowd, opposite direction of where Kakashi was supposed to be headed. Then with a little grin, "where's the little lion?"

His companion automatically opened his mouth to answer, but then seemed to fully process what Kakashi had said and closed it again, raising a no-nonsense eyebrow at the man and turning one corner of his mouth downwards.

"_Sasuke…_" he reiterated, making Kakashi smirk a little, "is keeping his distance. He doesn't feel safe coming out until his teammates are fully recovered. Understandable, I suppose, but also cowardly."

"And he was perfectly okay with you waltzing out and wearing his face?" Kakashi asked incredulously. Sasuke's eyes twitched – almost like his face wanted to twist into a scowl at the words – but then the face smoothed over and it was gone.

"He felt… bad," he replied simply, hesitating in such a way that made Kakashi believe that he didn't quite understand Sasuke's reasoning. "And you found his hiding spot in the woods. He wants to stay away but he can't. Not forever. It was a very serious breech in his self-esteem, that fight with your student. The wrong combination of things gave that monster the chance to emerge, and there will always be the chance that that right combination of wrong things will happen again. He's a little… oh, what do you call it…?" Raising his hands, he made the quotation marks motion with his fingers. "'Freaked out'?"

"Yeah, yeah that's it," Kakashi replied dryly, rolling his eyes as Sasuke dropped his arms. "Why didn't you tell Naruto the truth?"

"You assume that I didn't," the boy responded with equal parched levels. But then he closed his eyes, and his voice seemed almost prideful. "But you're correct. I didn't. I didn't have to." Opening them again, he looked away into the street, glancing at all the faces that passed them by. "He knew who I was. I'm sure of it." Kakashi blinked in shock, and Sasuke shrugged as he continued. "We didn't talk about anything important. Like what had happened during that battle with his teammate or what the thing that came out of the book was. Or how it affected everyone. Or how the boy's teammates are doing. None of that seemed to matter to him." Raising his eyes, he looked up to the sky that was barely speckled with white clouds. "He seemed completely at peace just talking about trivial things. He shared ridiculous stories of how he tried to seduce his pink-headed partner a few times, and how he taught the Hokage's grandson about his Sexy-no-Jutsu technique." Kakashi simply listened with a small smile on his face. "It made Sasuke warm inside. What an interesting sensation. He should be brave enough to come back soon though, I'm sure. In the two years I've been with him, he's never been the type to play coward for very long."

"He's just a kid," Kakashi breathed, mostly to himself. "I can't imagine having such weight on my shoulders at that age."

"You had very similar weight, from what I've gathered," Sasuke replied simply, looking at Kakashi from out of the corner of his eye. "Just in a different form."

The face of his father flashed through Kakashi's mind, and he winced, shaking his head to clear it before looking back to the person next to him.

"I _will _find out who you are, you know," Kakashi stated firmly, out of the blue. "It's inevitable, and you can't stop me from figuring it out."

"Good. That will spare me the trouble of telling you," the creature responded, making Kakashi roll his eyes.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Kakashi asked, making Sasuke pause and turn to face him, hands in his pockets. "Why keep it so secret? Obviously you don't think it's that big of a deal-"

"You must find out for yourself because great knowledge is not given; it is earned," Sasukes stated sternly, like a grown-up talking to a child, making Kakashi roll his eyes. "You're not an idiot, Kakashi Hatake. Your intelligence rivals some of the greats. In your own strange, oddly-wrapped package. You're like a much less historically famous Anaxagoras. Like the little brother that found a cure for a cancer that hadn't been discovered yet but wasn't listened to because his big brother was busy proving that the sun was a star and is going to blow up and kill all of us one of these days, so why worry about fixing cancer when we're all just scheduled to die no matter what? And thus the little brother decided to burn the cure for cancer along with the Aztecs and then crawled into a bottle never to come out."

Kakashi blinked, trying to remember if he had ever heard that name before and then realizing he hadn't before looking back at his companion, the rant (strangely intelligent but incredibly outrageous) completely sailing right over his head.

"Who's Anaxawho-ha?"

Sasuke opened his mouth as if to berate him for being an idiot, but then blinked and then merely lightly scowled at him, lowering his hand from where he had raised it to shake a finger at the man.

"No one, never mind," he replied dismissively, turning and beginning to walk again, slipping the hand back into his pocket. Kakashi blinked, running through his mental history books before lifting a hand and following Sasuke.

"The one that suggested that the sun was a star was actually a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Stones called-"

"Shut up, Kakashi Hatake."

**End Chapter Twenty-Eight – Don't You Fake It**

**Interesting, right?**

**I am notorious for having those kinds of rants. Ones that seem crazy intelligent at first but then when you actually listen to them and digest them you realize they're both intelligent and crazy, and you can't decide if the person is a complete genius or an utter moron because what they said was just so outrageous your intellectual belly is having trouble with it. **

**Yep. I am one of those kinds of people that tortures others like that. :)**

**Did you enjoy? You should review! The tournament is going to be starting soon!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	56. Flashback Twenty-Eight: Run

**And the shit goes DOOOOOOOOOOWN!**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Eight – Run**

"_Run, Sasuke!" She cried to him as blades flashed in the light. "Run!" _

_**This shouldn't be happening. **__He thought as he fled, racing through the empty streets as he could feel the fear chasing after him. __**Why is this happening? **_

_So maybe he had gotten a little too overeager. Maybe he should've seemed to have a little more trouble with the fights. Maybe he should've been more secretive with his place in the village and who he lived with. Maybe he shouldn't have accepted a challenge from that guy who looked WAY too pleased to be set up to try to kick the shit out of some kid half his size-_

_Oh God but it had been glorious. For three weeks, he had been a hero. A legend. __**The Mirror.**_

_The goggles that Tyra had given him lay forgotten and bloodstained on the arena floor far behind him, one of the lenses shattered and in pieces. Blood dripped down Sasuke's forehead where a piece had dug in._

_He knew why this was happening – who was he kidding? He knew why and he was terrified. It was out in the open. Only one man had seen but Goddammit that was exactly the one person that should never have seen them ever ever EVER-_

_He heard Tyra running behind him as he could only make his way to the apartments, completely at a loss for somewhere else to go. They had to get out and they had to get out ohmyGod __**NOW**__-_

"_No, you idiot!"_

_Then Tyra grabbed him by the roots of his hair and tugged him around the corner in the opposite direction. _

_**HAKU! ZABUZA!**_

"_Why the fuck did you do that?!" He demanded of her as they dashed down another street, the man hot on their heels. _

"_I'll get you!" He cried. "I'll get you and those pretty little eyes kid!"_

"_You want them to die too?" She asked simply, completely unmarred even though she had slashed through what must've been a dozen people to get them out of there alive (poor blokes. They had just been in the way)-_

_No, he didn't. _

_**But I don't want to die without them either.**_

"_And what about Molly?" He demanded angrily. "You're just going to leave her too?" She didn't answer, tugging and pushing and shoving him in the direction of the mountains. Sasuke knew what she was planning and he couldn't believe it- "Do you even know where you're going?!"_

"_Hey, __**I **__am the adult here!" She snapped in irritation, pointing at herself with a thumb as they ran. "So shut up and trust me!"_

_Smashing through one of the hidden doors that led into the mountains, she practically threw Sasuke into the passageway before following, the man close behind them. _

_**I'm leaving them. **__Sasuke thought as he went numb. __**I'm leaving the only people that have meant anything to me just to save my own skin and I'm not even going to say goodbye-**_

_Just as he came to the decision that he was going to turn back and try to lose the man following them so he could see Zabuza and Haku one last time, he and Tyra emerged in a clearing not unlike the one that she and Zabuza had first interacted. _

_A miniature army of ninjas were waiting for them, all of them from the Village Hidden in the Mist. _

"_What the fuck?!" Sasuke cried as he and Tyra screeched to a stop, immediately becoming surrounded as the man followed them out. "Hidden Mist ninja? Why so many?!"_

"_As soon as you caused ruckus in Andora, the ones in charge alerted us to your presence," one of them explained. "You broke the one rule that kept you safe, and now Andora has taken back its protection. You are outside the safety of the village and now you are fair game."_

"_TYRA!" Sasuke cried in exasperation as he looked over at her. Blinking, she shrugged._

"_Hey, I didn't know they worked that fast," she replied nonchalantly in explanation. Sasuke glared at her heatedly before the Hunter ninja that had followed them out of the village spoke._

"_Those eyes, my brothers!" He cried. Sasuke remembered seeing the tattoo of the Village Hidden in the Mist – under the man's shirt right beneath his collarbone – right as he tackled Sasuke and sent him smashing face-first into the cage of the arena before pushing him to the ground to lock him in a choke hold. Fury boiled within the young teen at the memory as he glared at the man. "He has the blood eyes! You know what that means!"_

"_Shut up! The other two are here!"_

"_Sasuke!"_

_He looked up to see Haku and Zabuza sailing downwards to land in the center of the circle with he and Tyra, needles threaded in between Haku's fingers and Zabuza's sword unsheathed. _

_Molly was with them, dropping from Haku's back and immediately moving to Tyra. _

"_My Knight," she stated simply. The redhead turned to look at her and kneeled in front of her._

"_Molly," she breathed as she did, allowing the blonde girl to reach out and touch her face for a moment before she moved to stand behind Tyra, partially hidden behind one powerful leg as Tyra stood, reaching for her last remaining sheathed axe. _

"_It wouldn't have been more effective to catch them by surprise?" Sasuke asked his teammates, so, so selfishly thankful that they arrived but at the same time so incredibly confused. _

"_It would've, but I needed to say something first," Zabuza stated simply before he turned to Tyra. "What the fuck were you thinking, taking him to a place like that?! Who gave you permission, exactly, to do that? Thanks. Thanks a fucking lot ya whore!"_

"_Oh shut the fuck up old man," Tyra snapped irritably, the tension that had gathered beforehand disappearing into smoke as the hunter nin looked at each other in confusion as they watched. "You were letting him decompose in that fucking city! At least __**I **__was trying to be the responsible adult and keep his mind sharp!"_

"_Oh, right, yeah, by getting him almost killed-!"_

"_Oh fuck you! He's fine!"_

"_He is BLEEDING! FROM THE FOREHEAD! THAT IS NOT FINE!"_

"_It's a fucking little scratch-"_

"_Oh, nonononono. Don't you DARE downplay this-"_

_As they loudly argued, Haku's gaze drifted over to Sasuke's and he bumped the child's hip softly. Raising his eyes, he looked at Haku and the older male smiled at him, his eyes twinkling. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back._

"_I was so scared I would never see you again," he breathed in joy. Haku's smile widened just a bit, those eyes carrying so much more love and understanding than could be put into words._

"_Wait for the cue," he murmured – almost to the point where Sasuke couldn't hear him._

_**Oh.**_

_Haku, as he glanced around him at the surrounding ninja and then back to the fighting pair, sighed heavily._

"_You two fight like a married couple," he commented dryly. Sasuke felt fire burst along his skin as a wordless message seemed to pass through the group._

_**That's it-!**_

_Immediately, all four of them leaped into action, piercing through the ranks as blades and needles flew through the crowd and blood sprayed. Molly stood in the center of the fray, quiet and tiny and completely ignored as she silently watched. _

_Zabuza was ruthless. Tyra was mighty. Haku was precise and Sasuke was quick. But there were just too many of them. It was the cave with those mountain men all over again, except now Sasuke knew what was going to happen._

_They were all going to die._

_Sasuke felt something run him completely through and he coughed, stumbling backwards as pain flared throughout his body. Reaching up, he held the side of his belly where the kunai had created a hole and felt blood bubbling up from behind his lips. His knees buckling, he fell onto them and warmth dribbled from his lips._

"_Sasuke."_

_His eyes rose to see Molly standing there next to him, Tyra landing behind her and pausing in a half-crouch to gaze at him, all three of them suddenly alone in the world. Sasuke's eyes were wide and horrified as he gazed into Molly's big black eyes, knowing what was coming and so, so afraid._

"_It's time to show them who you really are, Sasuke Terranova."_

_Shaking his head, he began to push himself backwards away from her. Dauntless, she stepped forward to match his movements, reaching out for him with a tiny pale hand. _

"_N-no… Molly, Molly please don't-!"_

"_It's time to rise."_

"_Molly-!"_

_Her fingertips pressed themselves against his forehead very, very softly._

**End Flashback Twenty-Eight – Run**

**OMGEEEEEEEE**

**Haha, did you enjoy? Let me know. :D**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	57. Broken Doors

**Teaser. Huge teaser. But you're gonna love it.**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Broken Doors**

"_I'm afraid, Haku."_

_He raised his eyes and looked over at the other, who had his arms wrapped around himself as he stared at the water. He smiled warmly and padded over to him to sit down and take his hand._

"_Of what, dearheart?"_

_His companion's eyes were dark and troubled as he stared down at the water._

"_Whenever I look in the water, I see two different faces," he stated simply. "Mine and someone else's. And I don't recognize him."_

_Haku blinked in curiosity before reaching up to run his fingers through the other's hair. Oh, how much he loved this little person next to him. _

"_Well, what does he look like?" He asked lightheartedly. "Does he look friendly?"_

"_He doesn't… he doesn't look like anything," his partner admitted after a moment, and Haku knew that this realization only succeeded in disturbing the other even more deeply. "I can't really see his face. I know it's there. It looks like it's a human face, but the water is always rippling. It never clears long enough to let me really see."_

_Haku leaned forward so that he could see into the water as well so that he could maybe get a look too, and smiled._

"_Silly goose, I only see your face," he replied before looking back to the person next to him. The smile still on his lips, he reached out and touched the corner of his companion's lips softly. "And it looks like someone needs a happy thought!"_

_His partner, companion, friend, dearheart thought about this for a moment as he gazed at Haku. Then, he smiled._

"_Haku," he stated simply as they sat there together in the sun. "You __**are**__ my happy thought."_

"Haku?"

Wearily, he opened his eyes and looked up to see dark black eyes gazing down at him. He managed a weak smile.

"Sasuke?" He breathed as the other lifted the older male's hand to his cheek and touched them together softly. Haku's smile widened the littlest bit. "Sasuke, I was dreaming about you."

"For almost two weeks? Haku, you might want to get that checked out," the Terranova replied with a soft smile. "You've been asleep for thirteen days. Almost fourteen."

"Straight?" Haku replied disbelievingly, his voice still hoarse. "My wounds weren't that bad, were they?"

Sasuke shifted a little bit before shrugging.

"No, they weren't," he admitted as he looked away. "The medics… weren't entirely sure why you were still asleep. They weren't even sure if you would wake up." Slowly, he shifted and lay beside Haku on top of the covers, resting his head on the older male's chest. "I… I was so scared."

Gazing up at the ceiling, Haku raised a hand and began to run his fingers through Sasuke's hair.

"I'm sorry I worried you," he breathed, making Sasuke's shoulders tense up as his fingers curled tightly around the blanket. "I promise, if I had known I was asleep, I would've done everything I could to wake up."

This brought a smile to the younger boy's face.

"I know," he replied softly, snuggling up into the other. "I know."

"How are Inaré and Zabuza?" Haku asked as they lay there. "Are they both okay?"

"Inaré woke up a couple of days ago. She's busy doing physical therapy right now. Zabuza is with her to make sure she doesn't overdo herself. You know how she is."

Haku smiled as he remembered very, very clearly.

"Yes, I do," he murmured fondly as he allowed himself to smell Sasuke's hair. It was like crisp rain followed by a lovely cool breeze. "Where are Moira and Dagina?"

"With Zabuza and Inaré," Sasuke's voice was very, very soft. Then after a moment, he continued. "Haku. Please don't… ever do that to me again, okay? The idea… that I might've had to walk out of this village without you… was terrifying. It scared me in ways that… I didn't know I could be scared in anymore. I would've gone crazy soon if you hadn't woken up."

Haku closed his eyes and sighed quietly, reaching up to weakly wrap his arms around Sasuke in a hug.

"It's okay," he cooed into the other's hair. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Hush…"

They were silent for a very, very long time – simply basking in each other – before Sasuke spoke again.

"Haku?"

"Yes?"

"You mean more than life to me."

Haku could only smile as he tightened his grip.

"Thank you, dearheart."

_You're my happy place too._

* * *

"Oh, man. I gotta tell ya, I wasn't expecting that."

There was a giggle, and she tossed her hair back over her shoulder as she pushed herself into a sitting position atop him, straddling his hips.

"I was in bed for eleven days, not in a fucking wheelchair," she quipped in amusement as he reached up to touch her, raising an eyebrow at him. "What did you think was going to happen?" She leaned down and began to softly kiss his neck. "Personally, I wasn't expecting you to leave Haku's side, now that he's awake."

Sasuke gazed up at the ceiling in thought, thinking about what she had just said before his eyes went back to her as she straightened back up, rocking her hips back and forth playfully on top of him.

"I don't know why I did either," he breathed after a moment, making her cock her head at him. "He's fine. He's alive. But for some reason…" he took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. "My heart still hurts. It's like he's still asleep and nobody knows why."

"Me thinks you haven't quite overcome the shock yet," she explained, taking his hands in hers and placing them upon her shoulders. Immediately, they skated down her skin and slid beneath her bare breasts. She smiled at him, rubbing his chest reassuringly. "Give it a couple of days. You're gonna wake up with a gasp and then you're going to feel so relieved because then it'll have _finally _sunk in." Not too reassured, Sasuke gave a noncommittal sound but didn't say anything else. She gazed at him for a moment, and then pouted. "Sasuke?"

His eyes went back to her.

"Yes?"

Her voice was quiet.

"Were you ever worried about me?"

He rolled his eyes at her, twisting his hips and making her collapse next to him on the bed.

"Of course I was. You were bleeding out in my arms. How could I not have? It was like _I_ was bleeding out there." Reaching up, he softly touched her face as she gazed at him. "But… I knew you would pull through it. The doctors patched you up and transfused blood and plugged up all the… unnatural holes-" at this she giggled and pushed at him softly. "-and then all you needed to do was rest and heal. When you were right and ready you would wake up. But with Haku…" he shrugged. "Nobody knew why he wouldn't wake up. It was the mystery that scared me the most, I guess. That nobody could figure out why. But of _course _I was worried." Pressing their foreheads together, he pulled her forward so that she was pressed flush against him, their legs tangled up in each other as they gazed at each other. "After all, my heart will always have room for you."

She smiled at him.

"Oh, you smooth talker," she murmured luxuriously at him with a naughty smile, making him laugh as one of her hands snaked around the back of his neck as they both giggled. "Do you think we have enough time for seconds before we meet with Zabuza for lunch?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll figure something out."

* * *

Kakashi sat at his table after training, staring at his dinner but making no move to eat it.

What was it? What was it about Sasuke's tenant that infuriated him but yet fascinated him so much? It was like he was a six-year-old boy at recess that just couldn't understand the fact that he _liked _the stupid little blonde girl in his class so he threw dirt on her dress and mercilessly tugged at her pigtails instead when all he really wanted to do was just hold her hand on the swings until the bell rang.

_Obsession has never been a healthy thing for you, Kakashi…_

The answer was there. He knew he had it and he knew he knew the answer, but it was so just beyond the tips of his fingers that he wanted to yank his hair out and stab his eyes out and poke holes in the desk with a fork and bite his nails and do all of those other things that sane people do when a problem drives them completely and absolutely batshit _INSANE-_

_Where? Where do I know this? The pieces are all there, Kakashi, you just have to fucking put them together…_

"But how?" He growled to himself. "How do they fit? How can I put them together?" Angrily, he took his plate and threw it at the opposite wall. "GODDAMMIT!"

He expected to hear the resulting smash of china and clatter of utensils, but the secondary flump! that came after made him pause, confused. Turning, he looked over to see what had fallen.

The plate had hit the bookshelf in his living room, and among the pieces on the hardwood floor and floppy remains of a perfectly good cheese-steak sandwich a book poked out from behind the bookcase, between the piece of furniture and the wall.

Curious, he pushed himself up out of his chair and walked over, kneeling down to get a better look.

Completely ignoring the sandwich, he reached out and took the book in his hands. It was a tiny, dusty little thing with a dark blue cover and simple gold lettering for the title, the sides of the pages stained yellow with age and layered in dust. No pictures, no author, no grandeur. Just a simple little book that only wanted to do its job: tell a story.

Gods, how long had this book been caught behind the bookcase? Kakashi weighed it in his hands for a moment before turning it over in his palm. How long had it been? Ten years? Twenty years? Since he was a baby? He didn't even remember owning something that looked like this. With a thumb, he wiped away the dust so he could see the title.

His eyes widened.

"…the Landslayer…!" he breathed in shock as he stared at it, unable to believe the very words coming out of his mouth. His heart pounding in his ears, he looked up and clenched the book in his hands as he finally, _finally _realized- "That's IT!"

Turning on a heel, he dashed out of his apartment.

**End Chapter Twenty-Nine: Broken Doors**

**AHAHAHAHA COCK TEEEEEEEASE**

**You should let me know how cold of a shower you need to go take now. :3**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	58. Flashback Twenty-Nine: Decisions

**HOI GOISE**

**UPDATE FOR YOU YAY!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Twenty-Nine – Decision**

"_Are you sad?"_

_Blearily, he opened his eyes. The room was misty, and he remembered being in pain but knew he wasn't anymore. Slowly, he turned his head towards the voice. _

_Tyra sat there beside him, legs crossed with her weapons nowhere to be found. Her fierce red hair seemed to blaze in the foggy air. _

"_No," he replied – even his own voice seemed to echo as he looked up at her. "I'm angry. I'm upset. But I'm not sad."_

"_You lost something good," she stated simply. "How could you not possibly mourn?"_

"_Andora was not good," he bit out – not as sharply as he would've liked. "What I was learning there, yes. But not itself." He pursed his lips. "You and that girl… Molly… you two destroyed me."_

"_No we didn't," she murmured as she gazed at him. "We simply revealed you. And soon the whole world will know."_

"_I'll take it with me to the grave," he snapped. He tried to sit up, but found that he could not. His arms remained motionless, eagle-spread on either side of him as he stared up at her. _

"_You were meant to be feared, little lion," she breathed to him. "Don't fight it. Accept it."_

"_My brother is feared," he found himself admitting suddenly. "He is feared throughout the world. But I doubt that makes him happy." He looked away from her. "He's probably… alone somewhere, sulking."_

"_To be feared is often to be great," Tyra responded solemnly. "And to be great is to be lonely. You have to make that decision for yourself. Will you be great? Great enough to destroy your foes and eliminate your fears? Or will you be simply human?"_

_He could only gaze up at her, his heart feeling empty. _

"_Why do I feel like that decision's already been made for me?" He breathed softly. Tyra didn't respond suddenly – but she gave him a twisted smile, her eyes twinkling in glee. Raising a hand, she touched his chest softly, and he sucked in a breath. _

"_Now you're catching on," she whispered._

* * *

_He awoke in darkness, sucking in a breath as he stared upwards at a dark ceiling. It took him a moment to recognize he was tied down on a stone platform, arms and legs spread wide. _

_**This is it then. **__He thought in horror. __**I'm going to die. Haku and Zabuza are probably already dead. And it's all my fault. **__Sucking in a breath, he let out a soft sigh. __**But I suppose to just end it now and get it over with. **_

"_If they're not alive, then there's nothing to live for," he murmured, shocking himself with the solemnness of his own voice in the unshakable dark. _

"_Well, good for you they're still alive then, hm?" A voice asked. Twisting his head, Sasuke tried to peer through the darkness to find the source._

"_Who's there?" He demanded. "Where am I?"_

"_You are in the Village Hidden in the Mist, little Uchiha," the voice breathed – it was a man's. An older man's, by the sound of it. "How incredible of a find. The accepted truth that the youngest living Uchiha was dead is actually a lie."_

"_He IS dead," Sasuke defended. "I'm not an Uchiha. I am a Terranova!"_

"_Oh, really now?" He felt a presence near him then, as a hand softly touched his face and he flinched away from it. "What an interesting coincidence then, that your unknown bloodline carries the famous ability of a famous bloodline. Tell me, did you steal those eyes then? That would make you completely useless to us, and I should simply kill you and those other two right now."_

_Horror pierced Sasuke's belly, and he choked on his own windpipe._

"_What-no!" He barked before he could control himself. Defeated, he slumped back against his bonds. There was a chuckle from the blackness. _

"_No what?" The man asked. "No, you really __**are **__an Uchiha? Should I tell my executioner to put away his axe, then?"_

_Sasuke knew that the lives of the people he loved the most were at stake now. He sighed. _

"_What do you want from me?" He asked softly. _

"_The truth," the man replied simply. Sasuke could feel him walking in circles around him. The soft movements told the boy that he was wearing heavy robes. "That is the all-important conquest."_

_**This is it. **__Sasuke thought. __**You or them. You know which one is more important. **_

"_My blood is of Uchiha," he started slowly, making sure to choose his words carefully. "But I have… disowned the name."_

"_Well, lucky for you we don't care about the name," the other person in the room stated dismissively. "Your genes are all we require."_

"_What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked slowly. _

"_You are ruled by the two rogue ninja. And they, by the heavens' good graces, are ruled by you," the older man stated simply. "Which means that you three will do anything we ask of you to keep the other two alive. This… is very good… for __**us**__."_

"_Who is 'us'?" Sasuke asked cautiously. _

"_The ones that are going to decide your fate," came the simple reply. "Little Uchiha – oh, excuse me, what did you say you were going by? Terracoba or whatever? Yes, that. How far are you willing to go to protect them? How much pain are you willing to endure? Because we have a few mighty plans for you."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You see, there is a… creature, that we came about several years ago." The man paced around Sasuke, and the boy's skin crawled as the voice circled him, surrounding him – swallowing him whole. "We have tried to find him a proper host, but all of the previous ones have been… how could I put this? __**Inadequate.**__" Sasuke could almost taste the disappointment in the man's voice, and could only wonder what the man meant by the word. "But we have made a recent discovery that could change all of that. And with your… __**anger **__issues, he will provide great balance. We have seen how strong you are. You are the best candidate we have at the moment."_

_Sasuke flinched as the man mentioned the beast within him, and he felt rage swell in his breast at the words. _

"_I do NOT have ANGER ISSUES!" He spat, his voice echoing outrageously loud throughout the room and making him cringe at the sound of his own voice. There was a chuckle next to him, and Sasuke fumed as he realized what he had just done. _

"_Anyway," the man stated, unfazed – maybe sounding even a little proud. "You truly have only one choice. Accept the beast unto you and become one with it. Your loyalty will remain forever with the Land of Waves, and you will reproduce and spread your seed among our people. The power of the Sharingan will be ours."_

"_And if I agree?" Sasuke breathed, swallowing thickly. "What happens to Haku and Zabuza?"_

"_They will be pardoned of all crimes they've ever been accused of," the man replied in glee, knowing that this is what Sasuke wanted to hear. "They will be allowed to live freely in the Village Hidden in the Mist. Zabuza will even be allowed to be your teacher, while the boy will become your teammate. You will be free to live the life you've always wanted. You get the freedom of a new name, and your bloodline becomes ours."_

"_How can I trust that you'll do what you say?" The boy asked, turning his head to follow the voice as it kept turning around him. A cold hand reached out and set itself on his throat, making him suck in a breath as every single alarm in Sasuke's head started going off._

"_Let me put it simply for you, little boy," the man breathed icily. "You can't trust anything I say. But your choice is still easy to make." He increased the pressure on Sasuke's throat, tightening his fingers around it and making the boy gag. "You can accept my terms and __**maybe**__, all three of you might live. But if you __**don't**__…" Sasuke found he couldn't breathe as the man began to ruthlessly choke him. The Terranova, bound and tied tightly down to the stone beneath him, couldn't move to stop him. "It is assured that all three of you __**will die**__. So." Suddenly, Sasuke could breathe again as the man released his grip, and he began to cough raggedly. "I assume I know your answer?"_

_Sasuke was quiet for a moment as he thought. _

_**You must do everything you can do save them.**_

_Closing his eyes, he wished he could see them. Wished he could speak to them and talk to them and be held by and hold them one more time before he gave his answer. He was too young, too afraid for something like this. _

_A beast… what on earth did the man mean?_

_**At least, if you say yes, you have a chance at doing all of those things.**_

_The man was right. His choice was, ultimately, very, sadly, easy. _

_**Haku, Zabuza, I love you.**_

"_Yes," he breathed, not even recognizing the sound of his own voice. "I'll do it." _

**End Flashback Twenty-Nine – Decision**

**Ooooooh yeah. Awesomesauce.**

**Did you enjoy? Are you excited? Let me know!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	59. Revelations

**I think you guys are really gonna get a kick out of this. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Thirty – Revelations**

"Sasuke!"

The boy turned to see Kakashi running up to him, book in hand. Blinking, the boy turned to him.

"Kakashi, what is it?" He asked curiously.

"I know what's inside you," the man stated proudly, out of breath as he handed Sasuke the book he had carried out the door with him. Suddenly completely disinterested, Sasuke thumbed quickly through the book with an irritated face. "See? I _told _you – well, him. I _told _him I would find out, and I did! Oh Gods, Sasuke, the power-!"

"I don't _care _that you found out, Kakashi!" Sasuke snapped angrily as he shoved the book back into the Jounin's hands. Dumbfounded, the man blinked at him as the boy roared in his face. "You found out, congratulations – you're a genius! Whoop-dee-fucking-do! I cannot EXPRESS to you the sheer amounts of NOT CARING that I feel! The amount of fucks that I have to give to you is zero, okay?! Now go away!" Hissing out a sigh of exasperation, Sasuke wiped his hand across his face and turned away as he muttered. "I should never have let him talk to you, Goddammit…"

Kakashi blinked at him curiously, more surprised than offended as he held the old book carefully in his fingers.

"Sasuke…" he breathed as the boy turned his back to him, hiding his face in one hand. "What's wrong?"

"Sasuke!" The boy lifted his face out of his palm to see Haku and Inaré breaching the crest of one of the bridges in the village, the older male waving happily to him. Sasuke gave a half-hearted wave before sighing and turning halfway back to his old teacher.

"I don't understand it," he breathed softly, making the man blink at him and lower his arms as he saw Zabuza following close behind his other two students. _Oh crap I am going to get so much shit for this- _"He's there. Alive and awake and breathing, and yet all I see when I look at him is that bed where he refused to wake up for two weeks. My heart feels so heavy, and yet it should be flying." He raised his eyes to look up at the gray-headed ninja. "What's it supposed to mean?"

Realizing that Sasuke was honestly, truly asking for advice, Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets (_Argh!_) and shrugged.

"Maybe it still just hasn't sunk in yet," he offered. "I've been dazed for a few days after teammates that have nearly died came back from the brink. I've just written it off as survivor's guilt."

"Yes…" he breathed softly as his team neared, Zabuza's angry eyes dead set on Kakashi. "I do feel guilty. Maybe you're right."

_Oh maybe not. I don't know. I can't tell. This feeling… I don't think I've ever felt anything quite like it before._

"You should leave, Kakashi," Sasuke breathed as he eyed his teammates and their animals. Dagina trailed with the group, for once not being with Sasuke. "I don't want you and Zabuza having another penis-pumping competition."

"Yep, so it starts tomorrow at nine in the morning!" Kakashi began loudly as the others grew within earshot, making sure to 'naturally' distance himself from the boy. "In the amphitheater by the west end of the village. It's huge. You can't miss it."

"What are you blabbering on about, Kakashi?" Zabuza growled warningly as Inaré went up and hugged Sasuke before Haku went over and got his share of attention too. The Terranova's heart felt hollow as he held the older male.

"Just letting your student know about the third and final exam that's going to be taking place tomorrow," he replied easily. It was a perfectly good alibi, after all. "Now that all the contestants have healed and are ready to fight, they're going to continue the Chunin Exams. Naruto was worried that Sasuke wouldn't be informed, but I'm making sure he's training all day today with his teammates, so I figured I'd just let you all know myself. Wasn't sure if you all were aware or not."

"Gee, how nice of you," Zabuza growled. "Now that you've delivered your message, beat it. We'll be there."

Kakashi took it in stride, smiling cheerfully behind the mask and nodding to the other man.

"Best of luck," he replied before he turned and left. "See you there!"

* * *

"Hokage-sama."

Kakashi bowed low to the ground, his heart pounding in his ears.

"Kakashi, good of you to come so quickly." The Hokage turned to look at him. "I heard that you have some… insight into the source of the Terranova's power. Would you like to enlighten me?"

This immediately told Kakashi to be extremely cautious. This meant that there were eyes watching. Maybe not the Jounin, but Sasuke and his team. Silently, he wondered what else the Hokage knew.

He took in a deep breath.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he reluctantly replied. "I think I may have an idea."

"Speak then," his ruler beckoned, sitting back in his chair as his advisors listened from either side of him down the table.

Sighing, Kakashi straightened and took the book out of his pocket, flipping through the pages as he wondered how to approach this.

_Your obsession has gotten the better of you, Kakashi. _

"A long time ago, there was a legend in the Land of Waves," he started slowly. "Of a great beast that washed ashore one day onto this continent and brought life to the land. There are two different versions of the story. The fairytale that is still told to children, and the legend." He held up the book. "This is the legend. A much… horrid telling of the otherwise sugar-coated tale." Opening it, he turned to the first page and began. _"Long ago, the land was barren and lifeless. The ocean beat against empty beaches and ate away an earth that could not defend against it. However, one day, a great flash of blue light pierced the sky, and a mighty wave rose from the sea and swallowed the defenseless coastline. But it was not alone."_

"_**When I awoke, the world in front of me was green and alive. Water lapped at my flanks and my jaw rested upon pure white sand. The songs of birds sailed through my ears and the wind whistled across my body. Almost like an embrace."**_

"_This beast, whatever it was, carried with it a great power – the source of all the power in the world: Chakra. It sank into the land as the newcomer slept, halfway between earth and sea, and as it slept its power gave the land life. When it awoke, it had no memory of its past or where it had come from. All the creatures old enough to remember its coming didn't know either. But it had been asleep – dreaming as the world around it came to be."_

"_**I knew nothing. Nothing of my past or where I had come from. I was an empty shell, waiting to be filled. When I awoke, there was only joy. Love. Appreciation for me. Without even knowing it I had given life to an entire world, and I basked in it. But I needed to know more about the world I had created. So I journeyed into the land to discover all that I had done."**_

"_As he traveled inwards he came across humans. They were in awe at his grace and power, and soon the beast found himself being worshipped like a god. Able to control the elements, he taught the creatures the way of the magic he felt in the world – energy they called Chakra. Beneath his watch, the 'ninja' style was developed, and the humans became one with nature and their new god. He was theirs, and they were his. Their god even created a few other gods to help him teach his people the mysteries of the earth. Fire, Sand, and Sky. For hundreds of years, the world knew peace."_

"_**However, the humans grew headstrong in their power, and they decided they didn't need me anymore. They turned their backs on the sea, the wind, and each other. They split up into four other parts and spread themselves across my world, claiming independence and that they no longer needed me. That I was an 'old way'."**_

"_And with that declaration, war began. Those that followed the God and those that turned their back on him clashed violently and viciously. The peace that the world had known had vanished overnight, and the world descended into turmoil."_

"_**I was so angry. I couldn't believe it. After all of my love and all of my sacrifice – after all of the wisdom I had shared with them and all of the trust I had placed within them – they turned against me. Just like that. I had done nothing to deserve the betrayal. All my world and my people had known had been love and peace as we grew together and came to understand our lives. The anger boiled within my breast, and my heart ached so fiercely… I couldn't understand the feeling. It was so powerful, and unlike anything I had ever felt before."**_

"_In his rage, the beast retaliated, lifting the tides and sending floods of salt water across the land and drowning scores of the rebellion. Miles and miles of land became ocean as he made his way further inland, and because of this he gained the nickname…"_

"_**I couldn't think, I couldn't forgive. I could only feel pain at the idea that I had been so ruthlessly betrayed. I kept asking myself, 'What have I done? What have I done to deserve this pain?' and I found myself drowning the very land that I loved so dearly. But I couldn't stop. They had to suffer for their insolence – my children had to be punished. Beneath my hand, coastlines vanished. And my ears could barely pick up the new nickname they had given me, attaching it to my great name."**_

* * *

"**Ragnarok, the Landslayer."**

Sasuke sighed, turning to Kakashi as the match between Naruto and Neji ended with – shockingly enough – Naruto as the victor. The crowd screamed as the next match was announced to begin shortly.

"Congratulations, Kakashi," he breathed softly as the arena stood in front of him, the small opening that he and his old teacher stood in swallowing both of them in shadow, away from the eyes of the crowd. Weakly, he shrugged. "Now you know the truth. Now you know what's within me."

"Sasuke, you have a _god _inside of you," Kakashi stressed. "That's greater than a tailed beast-"

"Kakashi, can you please gloat alone, in a room, by yourself, on the complete opposite side of the village?" Sasuke snapped at him as the cheering became more insistent. "You already told me you know – why are you telling me again?"

Kakashi sighed.

"I'm telling you because…" he shook his head. "Because the Hokage knows too. He…" He looked away. "He found out somehow."

His back turned to Kakashi, Sasuke's eyes widened as one of his horrors was finally, finally realized.

"It doesn't matter," he breathed softly. "It doesn't matter anymore. This is the last thing I need to do here. And then I'll never have to step foot in this village again." When he spoke again though, his words were steel. "If anyone from your village tries _anything _to hurt me and my people, I _will _start a slaughter." Sasuke turned just a bit to glare at Kakashi through one eye, and the Jounin _knew _the boy knew how the Hokage had found out. "And I will make sure that the one who told the Hokage knows that it was entirely _their _fault."

Kakashi's blood ran cold as a person stepped into the arena opposite Sasuke.

"_Next up! Gaara Sabaku verses Sasuke Terranova!"_

"Sasuke-"

"Stay out of my business, Kakashi," the boy stated simply. "For good, this time."

With that, he stepped out of the shade and into the sun.

**End Chapter Thirty – Revelations**

**DUNDUNDUUUUUUN**

**And no, for your information, the legend doesn't end there. :P**

**But what exactly IS the great beast? We will find out soon!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	60. Flashback Thirty: Teammate

**OMG I KNOW IT'S AN UPDATE**

**So far I've only got the flashback done. I'll see if I can crank out the other too, but it's almost two in the morning where I am right now. -.-**

**But please enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Thirty: Teammate**

_"It will take a while for us to prepare the ceremony." The words echoed hollowly in his ear as the songs of birds filtered through behind them. "So relax. Walk around the village and enjoy yourself. Get to know your new home. But do realize that you and your... 'family', will never be alone."_

_It was freeing, in a way. Being in such a cage. He was truly no longer an Uchiha. He was a Terranova - officially. The last of his people. And Zabuza and Haku were his official family. The Uchihas were a thing of the past. He and his new family were no longer to be hunted or scorned. Everything he had ever wanted, everything he had ever dreamed about over the past two years - he was receiving. _

_The weightlessness in his breast when he opened his eyes to the daylight, his head on Haku's chest... it seemed almost worth becoming a shelter for a beast. _

_But was that what the creature really was? A beast? Ragnarok, the Landslayer - the shattered pieces of a dead god brought back together again. Sasuke hadn't even heard of the legend before. What kind of person was he like? Could he even be considered a person? Would Sasuke be able to stand up against the power of a god? Or would he be consumed? _

_It was hard to wrap his mind around the concept - sharing his brain with someone (something) else. The freedom, the family, the breeze blowing through the window - none of it seemed real. Andora seemed simply like a dream. The alchemists had tried to explain it to him, but it was still so hard to imagine. Not even they truly understood what was going to happen should the embodiment succeed. For it had never happened before. Ragnarok was too fierce - too strong for the human body. All the other hosts they had tried had died. Gruesomely. Why were they so confident that Sasuke's fate would be so different? _

_"Only the foolish try to cage a god."_

_Haku's words floated across his mind as a leaf floated into the room, turning and twisting silently on the wind. _

_Maybe it wasn't confidence. Maybe it was simply desperation._

_**Is the Land of Waves really that desperate for power?**_

_He wondered how a god would think. Would it be in words, like he did? Would it be in another language? Or simply images? Feelings? Pictures? Would they be able to understand each other? Maybe even get along?_

_**It's not real. It doesn't feel real. **_

_Or would the god do his beast to kill the mortal that caged him, and take Sasuke's body for himself? Was that even possible? _

_What would this... god be like? Could they maybe even be... friends?_

_Sasuke was excited and terrified all at the same time. _

_**I can't die. **__He told himself. __**I am all that keeps Haku and Zabuza alive here. I have to stay. If he tries to kill me... **__He took a deep breath. __**I have to fight him. With all my might. **_

_"Dearheart?"_

_Sasuke's eyes shifted upwards to gaze into Haku's. The older male smiled at him._

_"You've been staring out the window for a while. Are you all right?"_

_Sasuke blinked for a moment, shrugged and settled down a little more fully in the embrace of Haku's arm. _

_"You grew up in the Land of Waves, right Haku?" He asked slowly. "What... do you know about Ragnarok?"_

_Haku sighed softly as he lifted a hand, running his fingers through Sasuke's hair as he thought. _

_"From what I remember from the stories," he replied softly, "Ragnarok was a benevolent beast with an incredible temper. He created the wind and sky and water. Brought life to the shores and oceans. He created the Land of Waves and helped found the Village Hidden in the Mist. He was a great and good leader. Until he was crossed by his people." A troubled look passed over Haku's face, and he pulled Sasuke a little more tightly to him. "In his anger, he sent the ocean into the land, flooding forests and staining the rivers with salt. Under his hand, the land began to die."_

_"But the land's still here," Sasuke breathed. "So that means he didn't succeed, right?"_

_"That's right," Haku murmured. "He was defeated, destroyed in battle by the very creatures he had created. They tore him apart and scattered his pieces to the winds."_

_"But those pieces have been brought back together," Sasuke stated quietly. Haku took in a deep breath._

_"Yes," he admitted very, very quietly - so hard that Sasuke had a hard time hearing him. Raising his other arm, Haku wrapped that one around Sasuke too. _

_Both of them knew what that meant. _

_"Do you know what's going to happen to me?" Sasuke managed to ask, almost choking on the words as he folded into the other male. Haku buried his face in the younger boy's hair._

_"No," he surrendered, threading his fingers through Sasuke's mane. "No, I don't. I wish I did. That way I would know what to prepare for. But..." he inhaled a shaking breath, but couldn't hold it like he had hoped and quickly exhaled. "I can only pray that... he is still as kind and gentle as he used to be. I can only pray that the years haven't made him hateful."_

_"What do you pray to, Haku?" Sasuke asked quietly. "What do you pray to, if not to a god like Ragnarok?"_

_Haku blinked at the question, thinking for a moment._

_"Whatever... makes me happy, I guess," he admitted. "This world is too beautiful, too perfect to have happened out of sheer coincidence. Maybe there is one unifying deity. Maybe there isn't. We as human beings find it hard to believe in something we cannot see. Even harder to pray to something like that. But I do believe in a flower blooming. In freshly fallen snow. Light spring rain. A crisp breeze." His hands threaded through Sasuke's hair lovingly. "You."_

_This made Sasuke's eyes widen, and he raised his eyes to look into Haku's in awe. Haku merely smiled at him, gently pushing the raven locks behind the boy's ears. _

_"I see beauty everywhere I go," he continued softly as he gazed at the smaller boy. "Beauty, I can believe in. So I pray to whatever made the beauty around me - no matter what it is. Whether it is a god or something else entirely, something that could make a world so wonderful could never be so horrible."_

_Sasuke, gazing at him, could only smile. _

_"I can definitely agree with you on that," he breathed, making Haku's smile widen. _

_"Haku. Zabuza."_

_They both looked away from each other towards the door to the other room - where Zabuza stood, pants and no shirt. He motioned for them to get out of bed. _

_"Get up," he told them simply. "It's time to meet your new teammate."_

* * *

_The Village Hidden in the Mist was a tiny floating village just about a mile offshore from the mainland, constantly surrounded by fog. The only way to get there was by boat, and the entire village consisted of houses and buildings and walkways constructed on floating logs and air compartments - designed to move with the water rather than against it. A long spit of an island in front of the village protected it from any fierce waves or tides, and the entire village was anchored down by heavy chains dug deep into the ocean floor. _

_It was a pretty lively community, as Sasuke was surprised to see. There were children running and playing along the surface of the water - young, aspiring ninjas already learning how to control their Chakra as they chased each other. Lines of laundry connected buildings for stories high. Gondolas passed back and forth, carrying passengers while others parked themselves next to walkways, selling goods and food. Lines of walkway-boats connected one part of the village to another. _

_The sea air was so foreign to Sasuke - so unlike the air of Konoha. The constant breeze was refreshing, though the salty air stung his nostrils at first. As he gazed at this new world, he could only ask himself one thing._

_**Can I really live here? Can this really be my home?**_

_The elderly shrank away to hide in their homes as Zabuza, his two boys and their escorts passed by. The word that one of the Seven Demons of the Mist had returned was a harsh one indeed, and Sasuke wondered if Zabuza would ever be treated like an equal._

_As if the man cared about that. _

_**Am I going to be alienated like I was back in Konoha?**_

_Maybe not. Though fear flooded through the streets at Zabuza's passing, it almost faded just as quickly when Sasuke followed after, holding his hand tenatively in Haku's - waiting to lash out and defend him. Big eyes and whispers and hesitant smiles followed him wherever he went. Heads poked out of doors and windows and children followed him for a few feet before losing their courage and retreating._

_"I don't get it," he breathed to Haku as they walked along, headed towards the house of who was supposedly going to be his future teammate. "Why are all of these people looking at me like this?"_

_"They've probably been fed a story by the Mizukage," Haku whispered back. "I'm sure it's something about you being a godsend and Ragnarok returning all the power to the people."_

_"Oh, they're going to be so upset when they find out that's not the case at all," Sasuke replied dryly, making Haku raise an eyebrow at him as they neared the elitest part of the village. _

_They arrived at a very simple, not quite so large estate, and Sasuke had to blink at the complete lack of character on the outside. The architecture was very plain, no designs carved into the stone. It was completely different from the other buildings in the area. The others drowned in history of the families there, so heavily so that the very walls seemed to speak tales of the people that lived and died within them. But this one they now stood in front of... seemed so empty. It sucked everything into itself and gave nothing back. It was a blackhole of blankness. It had no charm, held no character. _

_It was the estate of... nothing._

_The only thing even marginally interesting about it was the insignia on the double doors - placed directly in the center of the two._

_An illustration of an incredibly simple mirror - even barely colored - sat on the doors in between the two guards, with the simple black kanji beneath it._

_**"KRIKO"**_

_"KriKo..." Sasuke breathed as they all stood there, waiting for the doors to open. "I've never heard of these people before."_

_"Neither have I," Haku replied. "Maybe they're a new clan."_

_"Or maybe they're just lame," his teammate stated grimly, making Haku blink and cock his head as he considered this possibility. _

_Just then, their access was granted, and the doors opened in front of them. _

_The inside wasn't much better. The courtyard in the center of the estate was plan white sand with a few old and large bansai trees and stones in common spiral patterns- immediately Sasuke knew with a certain amount of shock that this wasn't a new clan at all. Those trees were incredibly old, and wonderfully taken care of. He hadn't even known they could get that big. _

_Moving his eyes inward, he saw there was a small koi pond and a waterfall closer to the center of the yard. Nothing exotic or outstanding. Everything he saw was very basic and very expected. There was nothing striking about the place at all._

_Except for the silence. The lack of movement. The courtyard was completely and utterly empty. _

_One of the guards had followed them in, and beckoned them along the stone path to the large building directly at the back of the courtyard. _

_Here, there was some form of decoration as they moved up the three steps to stand in front of the plain double doors - also baring the insignia. Two large white banners hung down from the roof and wrapped around the columns on either side of the doors, stretching out across either side of the building like a border. _

_Though that was different, there was no coloration or designs on the banners. No hint of uniqueness. So Sasuke was, ultimately, unimpressed. _

_**Are these people serious?**_

_Silently, the doors opened for them. _

_Sasuke blinked in surprised._

_**Oh. They're all here.**_

_About two dozen people stood in the room - a quick glance saw that the girls were on one side and boys were on the other. The two groups faced each other, leaving enough room for an aisle in the center of the room for Sasuke and his escort to walk through. Up at the back of the room stood an older woman who was obviously waiting for him, hands interlaced in front of her._

_Immediately, Sasuke felt goosebumps appear on his skin as he began to walk forward. All of these people looked... the __**same**__._

_The boys and girls all had the same style haircut for their gender. Boys short and girls long. All of them had black hair and eyes, all of them wore the same uniform white kimono, most of them were of similar height, all of them stood the same way-_

_And all of them had that same empty, blank look on their faces. Like they weren't feeling or experiencing anything that was happening around them. Like they were ghosts. Blank slates. _

_**Woah. Creepy.**_

_Even the woman that waited for him had something akin to that lifeless gaze - the smile seemed like it was carved into a statue. _

_However, when he got to the steps, life seemed to peek into the room, and the people around him simultaneously broke into smiles when the woman did. She bowed to him, and the others in the room followed suit. At first he wondered if her smile was fake too, but then he realized that it wasn't necessarily fake, per say, but just real enough. _

_"Welcome, Sasuke Terranova," she greeted, extending her arms. "We, members of the KriKo clan, consider your presence a great honor. We welcome you and your flock into our home as guests, companions, family. I pray the joining of our houses will be blessed by the great god of the sea - may his winds watch over us." She bowed her head with palms lifted to the sky, her minions following suit, as Sasuke thought. _

_**What? **__He thought dumbly. __**Joining houses? What does- oh. **__Dread suddenly filled his heart, and he swallowed thickly as he was beckoned up the platform to stand evenly with the woman. __**This girl... I'm...**_

_"May it bring me great pride to introduce to you, your new teammate and my daughter..."_

_She motioned to the white curtains behind her._

_**I'm supposed to marry her.**_

_"Inaré KriKo!"_

**End Flashback Thirty: Teammate**

**Dun-DUUUUUN!**

**I'll see what I can do about the other installment, but no promises.**

**In the meantime, I hope you liked this one. :)**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	61. Vengeance on the Wind

**And the fight begins!**

**Also, forgive any spelling errors. I'm posting this up without reading it through because it's almost 6am.**

**I'll do it later. **

**Enjoy!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Thirty-One: Vengeance on the Wind**

The screams were deafening as Sasuke entered the arena - built with some tree cover, but mostly open space. Those who hadn't seen his episode at the preliminaries hungered for blood and excitement and screamed their demands. Those that had... stayed silent. Haku and Inaré hadn't been there to witness it, and Sasuke could only wonder if Zabuza had told them anything as his gaze drifted up to look at them from where they stood in the stands.

The earth was dry beneath his feet, and the wind dried his lips.

_There's not a lot of moisture in this air at all. _He thought as his gaze dropped to the fiery red hair that floated on the other side of the arena. His eyes narrowed angrily. _Already, nature favors him._

_**"Sasuke, have you already decided that this isn't a overreaction?" **_Ragnarok's voice - deep and rumbling - echoed through his head, almost as if the creature were whispering in his ear. _**"If not, I suggest you consider the idea. It may clear your mind."**_

"I have to react enough for the both of us, right?" Sasuke quipped beneath his breath as he realized his breathing was already beginning to pick up just by being in the same space as the other. "He hurt Haku. His teammate almost killed Inaré. I need to kill _him_."

_**"Haku is alive," **_Ragnarok quietly reminded him. _**"As is Inaré. Is that not enough?"**_

It should've been. It should've been and Sasuke knew it, as he knew Ragnarok knew. However, that didn't make him any less angry.

"You should've just let me kill Sai," he muttered bitterly.

_**"Yes, and you would be completely calm right now," **_Ragnarok replied dryly - with a tone that Sasuke recognized would be his closest attempt to sarcasm.

"It's him or me," Sasuke stated simply. "He's going to try to kill me. So I have to kill him first. That's just in the nature of his kind of beast."

_**"And trying to kill him in response to him trying to kill you is the correct response?" **_Ragnarok asked plainly. Sasuke shrugged a little.

"A thousand years ago that was your logic too," he breathed softly. He thought there would be a reply, but there wasn't. The sense of someone hovering over his shoulder became less and less pressing as he felt the great deity retreat a little further away from his conscience - back into his own side of the cave.

Maybe that had been a little harsh. But at the same time, not really. It wasn't like the creature had any feelings. Ragnarok had probably just seen that trying to convince him was useless and gave up.

_"Just let me do this, Ragnarok," _Sasuke told his companion without moving his lips. _"I need to do this. For Haku. For Inaré."_

_**"Do whatever you want, little lion. I will protect my host no matter the decision," **__Ragnarok stated. __**"But do not fool yourself for a moment that you're doing this for them. This is for you and only you. This is pure, selfish vengeance."**_

Sasuke knew how right he was. But he couldn't bring himself to admit it. It was Gaara's fault - not his. Gaara should've just quit when he had the chance.

"I'll do more than just kill you," he swore beneath his breath, fingers curling into fists as his gaze locked with Gaara's, his shoulders tensing. "I'll _annihilate you_."

_"BEGIN!"_

Sand poured out of Gaara's gourd instantaneously, fueled by the rage Sasuke had seen in the redhead's eyes only moment before as it swept towards the Terranova like a living tidal wave.

Sasuke broke out into a dash towards the opposite wall, ducking and dodging attacks from the sand and leaping up, grabbing a tree branch and swinging fowards to hit the massive wall of the arena.

His feet gripping the vertical surface like he had been trained, sprinting along the wall as the sand smashed and crashed against it behind him, the people in the stands cheering as he passed by.

Eyes firmly on Gaara, he continued to run until he was almost even with him before leaping off the wall and sailing for his opponent.

Expectedly, the sand reared up to defend its master, and Sasuke moved like wind in midair, ducking and dodging and sliding past the defenses with cruel, determined grace.

_I'm going to get to you. _He thought - almost wickedly as he burst through the sand to find Gaara right below him. _There's no way you can escape me-!_

Chakra flaring up and down his arm, Sasuke vanished from the space above the redhead and reappeared right behind him, crouched and posed to kill.

"GAARA!" Temari cried.

Immediately, the sand swept back to the teen and surrounded him in a sphere, instantaneously hardening as the Terranova sliced his fist upwards-

Sasuke's attack smashed against the newly-formed barrier uselessly, and the sheer amount of Chakra he had put into the attack diffused on impact, exploding over the top of the sphere in a blue cloud of electric smoke.

When the smoke cleared, spikes litered the surface of the shield, narrowly missing Sasuke.

_The same defense as before! _He thought, having repositioned himself just in time to dodge a _very _inconvenient impalement. _Dammit!_

Immediately, he waged war against the defense, delivering blow after blow to the surface as he circled around it, dodging attacks that kept sinking back down and reemerging in hopes of hitting him as he spun and kicked and punched. All of that anger and frustration and hopelessness he had felt during the preliminaries came pouring out, and his assault was relentless and infuriated. His bloody knuckles smoothed over as broken bones mended themselves wordlessly, and the spectators could only watch in silence as they realized that what he was doing was completely _useless_.

_**"Sasuke..." **_Ragnarok breathed to him as he felt something pull at his limbs after several minutes- as if weights had become attached to them as the other spirit inside of him tried to make it harder and harder for him to pointlessly flail. _**"Sasuke, you should find another method."**_

Gasping, Sasuke jerked away from the sphere as if he had been yanked by a much more powerful person than he, and he stumbled backwards, coughing with sweat pouring down his face. Breathing hard, he looked up to see the dome completely unfazed.

"You fucking coward..." he bit out bitterly. "Face me." Then he roared, "FACE ME YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Almost immediately, the sand withdrew and Gaara's face revealed itself in all its fury as sand sent itself towards Sasuke's voice.

Except Sasuke wasn't there.

Gaara turned his face the opposite way just in time to greet the fist being slammed into it, and Inaré let out a cheer along with Dagina as the redhead sailed sideways to hit the ground and skid along the floor of the arena, a dust cloud rising at his passage.

"Oh my God he hit him!" Kankuro gasped, still wrapped up in bandages.

Landing, Sasuke took a breath, held it, then slowly released it. A smug smirk on his face, he rose and took his wrist in hand, rolling it in his palm as he felt the joint pop.

_**"Satisfied?"**_ Ragnarok asked him.

"No..." he breathed as Gaara twitched, his fingers spasming as he struggled to pick himself up off the floor. The Terranova leaped forward. "Not even _close_-!"

He charged towards the redhead, sprinting across the arena as Gaara fought to pick himself up with a hollow groan.

"GAARA GET UP!" Temari exclaimed.

_**"Are you sure charging is such a good idea?"**_

"Shut up," Sasuke snapped as he ran. "After all, it's not like you can just let me die-!"

Lunging at Gaara - who was still partially on the ground, shaking - he thrust his other fist forward directly at the sand nin's head.

His enemy managed to throw himself sideways and Sasuke's fist crashed into the dirt, burying itself up to his elbow with the momentum. A wild look in his eyes, Sasuke turned to face Gaara's direct and pushed with the buried arm, and with an explosion of dirt and sand his fist burst out of the earth and allowed his fingers to snake through the sand ninja's red strands.

He wasn't allowed to go any further with that idea. The sand finally managed to wrap around his limbs, yanking him away from Gaara and pulling out a good chunk of the other male's hair.

Trapped, Sasuke was thrown to the ground as the sand coiled around the guilty arm-

The Terranova let out a choked scream as one of the bones in his forearm snapped as the sand twisted his arm mercilessly behind him, and pain flared through his left-hand side as the sand began to increase the pressure, crushing down and seeking to turn the remaining bones into powder.

"Sasuke!" Inaré cried as the Terranova reached up and gribbed the shoulder of the broken arm.

_Fuck. _He thought, gasping through the pain. His arm wouldn't heal until the bones were allowed to fall back into place, and they couldn't exactly do that if they were atomized. _We're not just out to kill each other. We mean to __**torture **__each other._

Suddenly the sand yanked him up into the air, and he dangled fifty feet off the floor with the material consuming him to the shoulder. Gaara got to his feet with some assistance from his element, and he glared up at Sasuke, blood dripping from his lip.

"I won't forgive you..." he bit out. "For making me BLEED-!"

The sand reached up, taking Sasuke by all four limbs and stretching him out eagle-style, only his torso showing.

_"DO SOMETHING RAGNAROK!" _He mentally cried as Ragnarok nonchalantly watched.

_**"This is your fault," **_he stated simply, making no move to assist. _**"You must face the consequences."**_

"Ugh. Fucking bitch," Sasuke muttered as he fought against his restraints but was unable to break them. He couldn't even make one-handed signs as the pressure started increasing upon all of his limbs. "Does he need to break every bone in my body for you to finally do something about it?"

On ground level, Gaara placed his hands together as the remaining sand gathered amongst itself above him, readying for the assault.

"You'll suffer. Do you hear me?" His eyes widening, he thrust his hands forwards towards Sasuke. "YOU'LL SUFFER JUST LIKE THAT OTHER BASTARD DID!"

A face flashed through Sasuke's mind.

_HAKU-!_

Suddenly the people in the stands simultaneously gasped as the sand drilled forward on Gaara's command, the weapon punching a hole at least a foot wide and two feet tall through Sasuke's torso.

_"NO!" _Both Haku and Inaré both cried.

Sasuke's eyes widened as his threshold for pain was severely overcome, and he coughed raggedly as blood spewed from his lips upon the sand ramming him through, his entire body sagging.

_**"Hm," **_Ragnarok mused. _**"This might be a problem."**_

"Jerk," Sasuke weakly breathed as his head rolled in its socket. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

The sand released him, taking itself away from his chest, and Sasuke - gaping hole and all - fell to crash to the ground, lifeless and bloody.

There was complete silence as tears came to Inaré's eyes.

"No, not like that..." she bit out. "NO!" She exclaimed furiously. "NOT JUST LIKE THAT! SASUKE! YOU JERK! GET THE HELL UP!"

"Is he..." Naruto gasped. "Is he seriously _dead_?"

_**"You're lucky my instinct to live overrides my instinct to be right," **_Ragnarok stated simply as a certain pressure applied itself to the base of Sasuke's neck.

The wind began to pick up, and Kakashi lifted his head, sniffing.

"It smells like..." he breathed curiously. "...rain."

Before the stadium's eyes, water droplets began to form out of thin air, the hydrogen and oxygen atoms bonding out of some sheer will of their own to form dew drops that fell to the floor once formed. The trees and shrubs began to dry before their eyes, crinkling up and turning into nothing but ash as the water was sucked from them, top to roots.

The blood that Sasuke had lost - his blood and entrails and organs - dissolved into water too.

"This isn't over," Shikamaru realized in horror as he watched. "No. Not even close."

Suddenly the arena was flooded with water, and Gaara looked around in fear as water lapped around his ankles, shins, knees - it kept gathering until there was a thick layer of it and Sasuke was completely submerged. The sand retreated back into Gaara's gourd.

Then the water took on a life of its own, moving in a similiar way to Gaara's weapon as Sasuke's body was lifted up - almost like he was suspended in plasma. Silently, he hung there for a moment.

The water around him flinched, contracting within itself towards him as he seemed to be pressed from all sides.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he seemed to gasp, mouth going wide open as his torso seemed to be _pressed into him_, the water around him turning into his heart, lungs, blood and everything else Gaara had ordered hole-punched.

"NO WAY!" Kakashi cried.

Solidly, Sasuke dropped out of the water as it lingered behind him, gasping as the droplets on his skin took form.

Bright blue tribal tattoos appeared on his torso and back, almost shining as they seemed to carve themselves into the skin on his arms, neck and cheeks. A streak of crystal blue colored his jet black hair as the water seemed to suck the color out and replace it with its own. His ears lengthened at the crest ever so slightly, becoming sticky and webbed as his nails sharpened into talons. The vertebrae in his spine became more pronounced, poking sharply against the skin of his back as if seeking to pop out. Patches of scales, rough patches - a slight shade of blue but still mostly the same color as his skin - appeared on his shoulders, cheeks, back and hands as the muscles in his chest seemed to swell.

_**"This is the price you pay, little lion," **_Ragnarok breathed as the entire crowd gasped at the transformation. _**"The more of me you borrow, the more of me you become."**_

His eyes snapped open as his mouth opened, revealing rows and rows of razors for teeth.

His eyes were crystal blue. Like the color of water.

_**"That is the price you pay for vengeance."**_

**End Chapter Thirty-One: Vengeance on the Wind**

**Doop-doop!**

**Please let me know how much you loved it!**

**Much love!**

**DDB**


	62. Flashback Thirty-One: Fist

**Hey guys!**

**I know, I'm sorry. I'm being horrible with the updating. D8 **

**I'll try to get more to you (like Treacherous Heart, maybe?) before the end of the weekend! Promise!**

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Flashback Thirty-One: Fist**

_The girl that appeared was obviously nervous, with wide brown eyes set within a heart-shaped face. Her cheeks flushed red with either make-up or embarrassment, and her straightened, slick dark brunette hair seemed slightly messy. Sasuke noticed that her white kimono had a few more wrinkles than everybody else._

_Her eyes though – her eyes were what made his breath shorten ever so slightly. In this place of emptiness and dull, her eyes were full of life and shone with an internal fire that instantly made him relax as she stared at him. _

_This one. This one wouldn't be boring in the slightest._

_That gaze – that guarded, rebellious spark within her instantaneously reminded him of Naruto. _

_She stood there, like a statue, until her mother shot her a look and gave a very mild, very dangerous throat-clear. Jumping a little, she glanced at the woman before looking back to Sasuke and giving a slight cough, bowing stiffly. _

"_It's a… p-pleasure to meet you, Terranova-sama," she bit out, trembling. Sasuke smiled, gazing at her in wonder. He bowed deeply to her as well._

"_The pleasure is all mine, Inaré-san," he replied warmly, hoping to ease her tension. "It's good to finally meet you. I know we will be the best of comrades." _

_The mother swelled with pride at this, and she bowed to Sasuke as well. _

"_Glorious."_

_From there, Inaré was ordered to spend the day with Haku, Sasuke, and Zabuza. There was to be no training – only talking and getting acquainted. Because of this, Inaré ventured out in her kimono._

"_Don't get anything on it, my dear," __her mother had told her before they left, sickeningly sweet as she pinched her daughter's cheek. __"It is such a lovely thing."_

_With that, they had been sent off with promise of dinner with the family once the sun set. _

_At first, it was completely awkward. Sasuke had an innate sense of impending danger when it came to his new teammate, and it was exciting and frightening at the same time. It reminded him a little bit of the woman from before- Tyra. And that, needless to say, he had mixed feelings about. For a while, they simply in silence walked as a group, Inaré refusing to meet any of their gazes or even strike up a conversation. _

_Haku, bless his heart, was the one to salvage the situation._

"_Inaré…" he began with a smile. Stiffening in her walk, she glanced sharply at him. "That is a beautiful name. May I ask what it means?"_

_She nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment before looking away._

"_It doesn't mean anything," she replied guardedly. "It's just a name."_

_Blinking, Sasuke and Haku glanced at each other. That was a lie and they both knew it. With big clans like that, names always had meanings. _

_They didn't say anything else for a little while more. Then, Zabuza turned and sighed._

"_Ah, good. Here we are."_

_Looking up, everyone glanced at him and then looked to where he had turned. Sasuke cocked his head and confusion._

_He had led them to a training field. _

"_But, Zabuza…" Sasuke began. "What're we doing here?"_

"_You three are a team, right?" Zabuza asked as he walked into the center of the clearing – one of the few spits of land that were created solely for training on solid ground. Most of the training in the village happened over water. "And I'm your teacher, right? So we're going to train."_

_For the second time, Inaré spoke – this time nervously. _

"_B-but…" she stammered. "My-my mother said-"_

"_What she said doesn't matter," Zabuza told her sharply, making her eyes widen. "Go ahead. Tell on me to your little ole mommy. I am your teacher, not her. Only what I tell you matters. When she moves to take a kunai to the back for you, __**then **__she can tell me how to be your sensei. But until then, I don't give a good Goddamn __**what **__she says – got it?" _

_Smiling, Sasuke looked over at Inaré to see her dumbfounded._

"_He's like that," he stated as way of explanation. "You get used to it."_

_Frowning, she shot him a seething, completely undeserved glare that made the smile fall from his face as he blinked at her before she looked back over to Zabuza. _

"_I… I never said I was going to tell on you," she bit out, still a little shocked. "But… I… I can't get this kimono dirty."_

"_And __**that **__is a really sorry excuse," Zabuza stated dismissively. "How old are you?" She blinked._

"_Fourteen."_

"_Ah, perfect. So you are approximately fourteen years too old to still act like a baby. I know you have training clothes under that kimono. There is no way the material is that thick."_

_Sasuke gazed at her in awe. _

"_Do you really?" He asked in surprise as she flushed, caught red-handed. "Did you really come prepared to train?"_

_Again, she shot him another look – a look that called him all kinds of idiot. This time, he scowled at her._

_**What do I keep doing to deserve that?**_

"_I'm always prepared," she stated simply as she loosened the kimono's wrappings with one pull and flung the offending piece of expensive material off. Uselessly, it collapsed upon the dirt. _

_Beneath the kimono, Inaré had been wearing full-scale training body armor, her bust barely fitting into the chest piece with her clan's insignia carved into the leather breast plate. A white scarf wrapped around her midsection, and leather elbow and kneepads protected her joints beneath the tight long-sleeve shirt and tights. A sheath for what looked to be a mighty sword hung just perfectly across her back so it wouldn't be seen beneath the kimono, and her headband hung around her neck_

_Sasuke stared in impressed shock as she pulled the scarf from her waist and began to pull her hair up. Zabuza chuckled._

"_I knew it," he crooned. "You were itching for a fight the entire time."_

_Her face stern with a no-nonsense expression, she began to fix her forearm guards and adjusting the bindings, rolling her shoulders._

"_I'm always itching for a fight," she replied, and Sasuke yet __**again **__sensed the rolling inferno right below the surface of her skin. Zabuza grinned._

"_You're a little hurricane, aren't you?" He asked in amusement. Inaré raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Is that a problem?" She asked, lowering her arms to her sides, and squaring up. _

_Haku had to laugh._

"_No, I don't think so at all," he replied easily, making Inaré turn ever so slightly to gaze at him. His eyes were warm as he looked at her. "In fact, I think that may just be what he was hoping for."_

_And Sasuke, drinking in the positions of his teacher, his teammate, and his to-be-bride (Gods, what did that even mean?) realized something._

"_Inaré…" he began slowly, making her scowl at him. "Do you feel like… we're against you?" _

_The expression dropped from her face, and she blinked a couple of times as she looked at him. Then after a moment, her face hardened over again and she looked away, her lips pursed together in a frown. He pursed his own lips, and in decision he walked slowly over to her. She stiffened as he moved, and he could see her guard rising as she turned to look at him. _

"_You shouldn't," he stated simply as he neared. "We're not against you. We're a team. We're family now. That means we're on the same side. So…" slowly, as she looked away, he reached out to touch her hand. "Please don't be so tense, okay?"_

_The instant he touched her hand, she flinched and yanked it away from him._

"_Don't touch me!" She cried out before her other hand lashed out, and Sasuke's face was promptly introduced to her fist. "I HATE YOU!"_

_The force was enough to drive him back and send him crashing to the dirt, his head pounding. Holding a hand to his cheek, he stared up at her in bewilderment as she stormed away from him to where she had dropped the kimono, kneeling down to snatch it up. _

_Without a word to the other two, she stomped off, and Sasuke was still blinking in shock even as Haku walked over to him and helped him up._

"_What the fuck was that about?!" He exclaimed as she vanished, even as Haku raised an eyebrow at him concerning his language. His gaze switched back and forth from where she had disappeared and Haku's mildly concerned, mostly amused face. "Did you hear me say anything to earn that?"_

"_No," Haku admitted, shaking his head and trying to fight back a smile as Zabuza downright grinned behind him. "But you did breach some sort of boundary. I wouldn't touch her again if I were you."_

_Pouting, Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away._

* * *

_Dinner was equally tense. Sasuke didn't want to go after what had happened, but Zabuza had told him that it was necessary. _

_The dining room was unimpressive, everybody sitting on cushions at a low-level table as food of the sea was brought out. _

_The woman that Sasuke recognized as Inaré's mother sat at the head – her father was nowhere to be found. At her right hand side sat Zabuza, and Sasuke could only hope he was making the woman as uncomfortable as possible as Inaré sat across from him. _

_Sasuke – much to his dismay – sat next to Inaré, with Haku next to Zabuza and thus across from him._

_**Gods it's like a connect-the-dots game of hell. **__Sasuke thought bitterly, able to feel the silent resentment issuing from Inaré's pores even through her new, clean white kimono, her hair pulled up into a complicated bun and decorated with delicate white flowers. _

"_Shrimp?" The teenage boy on his other side offered politely, making Sasuke turn to look at him. Smiling, he took the heated plate from the male's hands._

"_Thank you," he breathed softly as he put some on his plate before silently sighing and turning to Inaré. With the friendliest inflection he could muster, "Shrimp?"_

_Inaré took a moment too long in turning to acknowledge his question. _

"_Oh, no thank you," she said graciously, taking the plate from his hands. "Please go die," she told him softly with a grand smile before turning to offer the plate to her mother. Sasuke stared at her in angry shock before turning his gaze over to Haku, silently motioning his confusion. Haku merely shrugged with a smile, and placed a finger to his lips. _

"_So, Terranova-sama," her mother began, looking over at him as he raised his eyes from his food and turned his attention to her. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we are blessed by your presence. Our esteemed Mizukage informed us of your plan to take the God within yourself and save our lands. I only wish there was more we could offer you in thanks for your sacrifice."_

_It would be hard for Sasuke to notice, but Haku saw the way Inaré's eyes fell at her mother's words, and she bit the inside of her cheek as her hands fell into her lap. _

"_Ah, well, thank you, but nothing more is necessary," he responded as politely as he could. "I am only doing what I must to save the people that I love."_

_Instead of looking at Haku and Zabuza – as was his instinct – he glanced down to his plate instead as Inaré's mother sighed in pleasure. _

"_What a benevolent soul you are," she crooned, making Inaré turn her head slightly so her mother couldn't see her roll her eyes. "And not too soon, either. The weather has become more and more disastrous as of late, but as soon as you arrived, the sun showed her face for the first time in months. Already you have been written as a godsend."_

"_Careful," Zabuza warned in amusement. "My student already has an overly large ego. Inflating it just means that I'll have to poke a hole in it."_

_Sasuke scowled in confusion at his teacher as Haku laughed softly. What on earth did the man mean by that?_

_But the woman's words made him think. Was there already that severe of a change? Were the people of the Land of Water actually in danger? Was his sacrifice really helping them as much as she wanted him to believe? _

"_Well, um…" he began brokenly, realizing that he still hadn't answered her. "Glad to uh… be of service." _

_He smiled at her, and Inaré took in a deep, calming breath as she closed her eyes. It was like every word coming out of Sasuke's mouth just gave her a bigger and fiercer urge to hit him again. _

"_By the way, Terranova-sama, what happened to your face? It's bright red."_

_Sasuke blinked as the events of the afternoon flashed through his mind, and he opened his mouth – completely ready to rat on his new partner for the bullshit she pulled – but someone else beat him to it._

"_We were demonstrating some of the techniques that your daughter will be learning while training with us," Zabuza explained before he could speak, as Inaré relaxed a little in front of him. "And as we were, Sasuke slipped up, and fell… right into Haku's fist."_

_Haku blinked pleasantly as he was suddenly included in the story, and he looked at Sasuke only to beam at him and wiggle his fingers at the younger male in hello. Sasuke, resisting the urge to pout, looked away from the mother's direction and rolled his eyes. _

_In awe, Inaré looked over at Sasuke then back to Zabuza, who nodded slightly towards her. Shifting a little in her seat, her fingers interlaced under the table and she looked away, fighting down a pleased smile. _

**End Flashback Thirty-One: Fist**

**So yes. Sasuke is the youngest. His new and feisty female companion is two years older than him, and Haku is the old man of the group. :)**

**I hope you enjoyed! Please find it in your heart to review? :3**

**Thank you!**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


	63. Reunion

**Heeey!**

**So I'm going to be honest with you guys. The reason I'm not updating as quickly as I should is that I am WAY too busy daydreaming about the new and improved fantasy world that I'm going to adapt this story into fitting.  
**

**It's going to be so, so cool. It will be my own, personal, truly unique story. AAAAAAAAAH**

**But before I actually get to writing that, I told myself I have to finish this first for you guys. Which is needless to say, hard with how my inspiration is being.**

**But I'm doing it! I am! **

**Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Reunion**

The water loomed above Sasuke, rolling and shifting within itself like a monster waiting for a command. In shock, Gaara backed away, feeling the sand quiver within his gourd.

But the beast within held no fear. It was unusually quiet as it stared at the new transformation, and Gaara could only mentally look at him in confusion.

"_**Know it," **_Shukaku admitted quietly, and Gaara noticed that the usually raging storm that constantly weighed behind his eyes had calmed. And then he noticed that a strange calm had settled over the arena. The stands were quiet, drinking in Sasuke's new appearance, and the wind had stilled. He couldn't even hear birds. _**"Know it – know it like the beasty in the history. Not like before – before, a red. Now, a blue. Now, heart is still." **_

It was like everything had silenced itself to witness the newcomer as he shifted, rising into a stand.

"I can't beat it, can I?" Gaara asked softly as Sasuke's hair moved to its own rhythm – like a coursing river. "You're giving up."

"_**Never give up – not give up. Respect," **_Shukaku replied. It had been so many years, Gaara was used to the creature's broken speech. _**"Old soul. Old soul in wind and air – like soil. Older than sand on oldest beach. Fight, yes. Fight and fail."**_

Sasuke felt the same thing from the creature within himself, and he sighed as the characteristic calm enveloped him, allowing him to see everything with crystal clarity.

"_**There is something within that boy that is familiar to me," **_Ragnarok admitted to him quietly as they simply stared at each other for a long moment. _**"Sasuke, I think he realizes that he is grossly outclassed. I would advise against killing him."**_

It was hard for Sasuke to argue with him – as of that moment, there was more of Ragnarok than there was of Sasuke – and he could only sigh deeply. Ragnarok's calm had thrown a blanket over his senseless, flaming rage, and he could feel it being smothered out.

Sasuke moved, walking forward towards Gaara as the water flowed around him. Gaara jerked at the movement, stepping backwards.

"N-no!" Gaara stammered, raising his arms to hide his face. "Don't! Stay back! Stay back or I'll kill you!"

But the sand made no move to assist him. Temari and Kankuro stared down in shock.

"What's going on?" Temari asked numbly. "Why aren't they fighting?!"

"I…" Kankuro breathed. "I don't know."

"_**You know me, don't you?"**_Sasuke asked Gaara as he neared, Ragnarok's influence so strong within his breast that his voice had changed into something floating and omniscient, rumbling with internal power. _**"Is that why you choose not to fight?"**_

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Gaara swore again, taking more backwards steps to keep the distance between them. "STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Sasuke, however, was undaunted.

"_**Because I know you,"**_Sasuke insisted, taking another few steps to match Gaara's. _**"Please don't be afraid."**_

"I'm not afraid of you…!" Gaara bit out, pulling at his face with his fingers as he felt the monster within him come to a decision, feeling the storm within pick up speed again. "I… I…"

Gaara buckled over, holding his stomach as the rage within him suddenly became too much to bear, and he let out a scream as the sand poured from his gourd, enveloping his arms until giant limps tipped with claws raised him high up into the air. Screeching, he sent a limb for Sasuke, who promptly dodged out of the way.

"_**I HATE YOOOOU!"**_The deep, angry voice of Shukaku bled into Gaara's own tones as the beast's chakra snaked into Gaara's pores. Relentlessly, he attacked Sasuke, making the boy dodge and leap and spin around the attacks. And as he attacked he ranted and raged- _**"WE TRUSTED YOU! AND YOU ABANDONED US! ONE LITTLE SLIGHT FROM THE HUMANS AND SUDDENLY THE WHOLE WORLD WAS AGAINST YOU! WHAT ABOUT US? WHAT ABOUT THE ONES WHO NEVER LEFT YOU? WHO ALWAYS BELIEVED IN YOU? WE SUFFERED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! BECAUSE OF **__**YOU**__**!"**_

Sasuke was knocked off balance, spiraling down towards the earth and slamming into it ruthlessly, skidding along.

"_What the hell is he talking about, Ragnarok?" _Sasuke silently asked him as his body picked itself up, rolling onto its back as Ragnarok stared out of eyes that weren't his. The influence was so heavy, wounds closed up in seconds and he couldn't even feel pain. _"And why didn't you try to catch yourself?"_

"_**Maybe I deserve this punishment, little lion," **_he explained simply as he stared up at the sky for a moment, Gaara's sand nearing. _**"The creature within that boy is one of the nine tailed beasts. Meaning that he was one of the original."**_

"_One of the original what?"_

Sighing, Sasuke – or for all intents and purposes, Ragnarok – pushed himself into a sitting position.

"_**He was one of the original creatures that believed in me," **_Ragnarok explained softly, out loud. He closed his eyes. _**"He was one of the original creatures that I failed."**_

Suddenly a monstrous arm caught him by the abdomen, and Ragnarok grunted as his body slammed into a wall, his entire torso swallowed up by a gritty, vindictive arm.

"Ah…"he breathed, feeling his power flicker in and out as his strive for battle suddenly dispersed. His image reverted back to normal. And even as the sand pushed insistently at his internal organs, leaving him gasping for breath, he continued to speak. "I know you're angry with me," he breathed difficultly, even as Sasuke begged him to fight back. "And I know that the way I am now, I can't apologize and mean it." The sand crept around his neck, beginning to squeeze as the irritant filled his eyes. "But…" he raised a hand, struggling to touch Gaara's face. "I never meant to hurt you."

His hand faltering, it fell to rest on the sand arm, and as the weapon enveloped it, Ragnarok's Chakra sent itself forth into Gaara's body and into the link that connected the boy and beast. In that split moment, the essences of Ragnarok and the beast touched, and memories and emotions passed between them as if they were one.

Gaara screamed as if he had just been stabbed, and he yanked himself away from Sasuke, stumbling backwards. The water that Ragnarok had extracted from the arena to heal himself collapsed back into the earth, and just like that the shrubs and trees seemed to reflate back to life.

"You were just a tiny little raccoon when I first found you, captured by a human's trap," he breathed softly as Gaara stumbled backwards, Shukaku screaming in his head. "You were going to be killed. Skinned and eaten. But I saw within you a fierceness and a will to live that made me smile. You fought with the humans that had captured you like you were going to kill them all, even though you knew in your heart you stood no chance. That sort of devotion to life was something that I needed to be taught to the world, so I decided to save you." Slowly, he walked over to Gaara as the boy lost his balance and fell on his rear upon the ground, the sand retreating back into its shelter. "You became the last of my council. The one-tailed raccoon. And as you ascended, I gave you a name." He pursed his lips. "Shukaku, how your rage has taken hold of you."

"_**Shut up," **_the beast muttered through Gaara's lips, looking up at him with unrivaled hatred. _**"You're one to talk. Don't try to tell me you didn't mean to do what you did. After you rid the world of yourself, the love you taught me betrayed me! I was captured! Used as the humans' plaything for hundreds of years! And you wonder why I hate you!"**_

Using Gaara, Shukaku was able to put his feelings into actual, coherent words, and Ragnarok gazed down at him in what could've been sadness.

"But this boy you are within has done nothing to you," he stated simply, kneeling down in front of the redhead. "He did not ask for this. Why must he suffer your wrath?"

"_**Because the world had to suffer yours!" **_Shukaku growled through Gaara's lips. _**"When we disobeyed you, there was no forgiveness! No leniency! Only punishment! We suffered when we only did as you taught us!"**_

"I won't deny any of that," Ragnarok stated simply. "But now, I am suffering too. I feel nothing. I feel no love, no sadness, no rage. I am empty. This is my punishment upon myself. Shukaku…" He raised a hand, and set it on Gaara's forehead even as the redhead tried to jerk away. "I may not be able to ease your anger, but you still love me. If you didn't, you wouldn't be angry to begin with. And you wouldn't have been angry for this long. And if you still did not love people, you would've killed the boy that houses you long ago, even if it meant your own death." He gazed down at Gaara, seeing someone else entirely, as the boy's breathing slowed and he swallowed, looking up at Ragnarok as Shukaku shivered beneath Ragnarok's touch. "I want to fix this world. I want to free you and the others. I want the world to understand that peace can be reached without armies or subterfuge. I want things to be like the way they were before. But…" with Sasuke's help, he gave a tiny smile. "I won't mess it up this time."

Shukaku, through Gaara's eyes, stared at the creature he idolized all those years ago. The familiar chakra covered him like a shield, and he found himself resting against it just like he always used to do.

"_**Can you truly hope to heal a world using love when you don't even feel it yourself?" **_He asked softly. Ragnarok gazed at him for a long moment before shaking his head a little.

"I'm going to try," he stated quietly. "But I need you, Shukaku. I need you to set the example among your fellows. They're still out there. And they are watching. And they all feel the hate that you do. I know you can love your host and ease his pain. You know him better than anyone, after all."

Shukaku merely looked at him before sighing, taking hold of Sasuke's shoulder and lifting himself up into a stand.

"_Okay. Weird," _Sasuke mentally commented as the two looked at each other.

"Will you stand by my side, Shukaku?" Ragnarok asked him. "Will you find it in your heart to forgive me? Even when I cannot properly ask for forgiveness?"

"I would rather feel pain than nothing at all," Shukaku admitted suddenly as he looked at his elder. "The fact that you would take that nothingness upon yourself, just to save us all…" He shook his head. "Your presence is still enough to calm the angry storm within me. I will talk to my host as best I can. We will help you."

Ragnarok smiled, clapping the redhead on the shoulder.

"You have always been a cunning beast," he told the other proudly. Shukaku rolled his eyes.

"Please, don't flatter me," he told the other as they stood next to each other. "There is nothing cunning about blind devotion."

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Temari yelled down into the arena. "GAARA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING AROUND?! KICK HIS ASS!"

The crowd began to mirror her displeasure, and the two in the arena looked up towards the stands before looking back to each other.

"You can have the match," Shukaku stated as they both proceeded to ignore the unhappy cries. "It was silly of the boy to believe we even stood a chance."

"Now now," Ragnarok chided. "Fear is unbecoming of you, Shukaku."

The redhead raised an offended eyebrow.

"Fear?!"

Then, suddenly both sets of eyes widened as they registered the same threat. Sasuke's eyes flew up to Kakashi and his teammates, and his old teacher saw panic in the black orbs.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Kakashi cried as an explosion erupted upon the rooftop of the building behind the middle stands, where the Hokage and his council had been watching the matches. Debris and rubble fell upon the audience as hysteria set in.

All of the sudden, Gaara shoved Sasuke, sending him stumbling to hit the arena wall as a wave of kunai struck the ground where he had just been standing.

"Go find your teammates," Gaara, now fully in control, told the boy simply as Sasuke stared up at him. Dismissing the Terranova, Gaara walked away with his sand curling around him. "I'll kill you later."

Breathless, Sasuke picked himself up as everything quickly descended into chaos when Sound ninjas erupted from the woodwork.

"Some of the friends you keep, Ragnarok…" he breathed, rubbing his side. "Psychos. All psychos."

"_**Quickly, Sasuke!" **_Ragnarok urged him. _**"Your teammates!"**_

Knowing that the god was right, Sasuke leaped out of the arena and into the stands.

**End Chapter Thirty-Two: Reunion**

**Dun-dunun-NUN!**

**And so the story continues...**

**Please review and tell me how cool you hope it's going to get? :3**

**Much love,**

**DDB**


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